By Rowan Forster, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs
One only has to conduct a quick search online to establish that Africa is taking IP seriously. There are numerous instances of countries beefing up anti-counterfeiting activities, driven by pressure from IP owners from the first world wishing to have protection for their products in one of the few growth markets in the world. Social networking and social media are growing rapidly in Africa, bringing with them marketing opportunities and rapid market penetration previously unheard of on the continent. With this, however, comes opportunities for fake products. Africa is poor and price sensitive, yet an awareness of big brand names exists. As a result, everything from CDs and software to medical goods and pharmaceutical products, mobile telephones and other high-tech goods, as well as the traditional knock-offs of famous clothing brands and cigarettes, are prevalent.
Surely it will not be long before we see Africa becoming a more popular filing destination for patent protection? How long can the developed world watch while its products are reproduced and sold cheaply to the African masses? As long as African governments continue to display an interest in developing and up-dating IP legislation, interest from the rest of the world must follow. Who would have thought a few years ago that Rwanda would be acceding to both the PCT and ARIPO, as has recently happened, or that Sudan would be introducing utility model legislation?
But Africa needs to encourage innovation and make use of the IP protection systems already in place. The continent continues to lag far behind the developed world in filing statistics, particularly when it comes to domestic innovations. Historically this is not so much due to a lack of innovation but rather the perceived high cost of IP protection, its complicated nature and the inability to effectively enforce rights. If Africa wants to encourage foreigners to invest in the continent and in IP protection here, then Africans must begin to show faith in the system and make use of it themselves. ARIPO is trying to boost awareness of the availability of its decade-old (but almost un-used and unheard of) utility model regitration system as a sort of entry-level IP protection that is cost effective and less complicated and intimidating than the patent system. This would be a great starting point for many African innovators as well as the IP powerhouses of developed countries, and would also offer encouragement to legislators in Africa to continue driving the implementation of IP legislation and anti-counterfeiting activities.