President of the Eurasian Patent Office Grigory Ivliev spoke at the opening of the 46th session of the Administrative Council of the ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization), an organization that unites 22 states. At the event also spoke the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Mr. Daren Tang, Commissioner of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, heads of large patent offices in the world.

Grigory Ivliev spoke at the opening of the session with proposals to strengthen cooperation. ARIPO was given a draft cooperation plan with specific proposals for the implementation of projects for the benefit of states, innovators and intellectual property offices. The EAPO stands ready to implement joint educational initiatives, intensify dialogue among experts, in particular on regional trademark protection and dispute resolution systems for regional objects, and to provide services to African applicants as the International Searching Authority under the PCT.

– Today’s world system has new centers of power. Our regions have huge growth potential in terms of the use of intellectual property tools. We are interested in working together to unleash this potential, foster inventive and patenting activity, encourage young people, small and medium-sized enterprises, universities and research centers. This requires high-quality IP services, experienced personnel and employment of work practices using modern digital tools”, — the EAPO President noted.

The 46th session of the ARIPO Administrative Council opened today in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Besides WIPO Director General Daren Tang, in its work participate the Director General of the OAPI (Organization Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle) Mr. Denis Loukou Bohoussou, the head of another regional organization uniting the French-speaking countries of Africa, the Commissioner of the Canadian Office for Intellectual Property Konstantinos Georgaras, as well as heads of national patent offices.

For reference:The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) is an intergovernmental organization for cooperation between African states in the field of IP. ARIPO was established by the Lusaka Agreement in 1976.

There are currently 22 member states of ARIPO: Botswana, Cape Verde, Kingdom of Eswatini, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.