“During my mandate, I want ARIPO to be more and more feasible for member states, customers and rights owners. I want more ownership in the secretariat as the organization grows and I want to develop our relationships with international organizations.” That was how new ARIPO Director General Fernando dos Santos described his vision for the association to the INTA Daily News yesterday.
Dos Santos was appointed to the position in November last year, having previously founded and headed the IP office in Mozambique. He leads a team of 50 people and is visiting the INTA Annual Meeting this week to talk to international trademark owners. He says his message to them is clear: “If you are thinking of investing in Africa, consider ARIPO.”
He explained that nine of the 18 member states are members of the “Madrid Protocol-like” Banjul Protocol. This enables one central filing to be extended to all participating member states, with some procedures (including appeals) conducted centrally.
About 1,000 applications have been made through Banjul since it came into force in 1997, and dos Santos says it needs to be made “simpler and more attractive.” A study on improving efficiency has been carried out with the help of INTA, and this should lead to improvements being approved by the end of this year. He added that he hopes this will lead to more states joining the Protocol, and ultimately to a link with the Madrid System that would enable international trademark applicants to designate ARIPO.
Dos Santos described the territory covered by ARIPO, which spans some 300 million people, as “an interesting market.” He added: “We know there are many problems in terms of enforcement, but everything starts with registration.” At present the Banjul Protocol is used mostly in traditional industries such as pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs and education/stationery.
The new ARIPO head is embarking on a four-year term (which can be extended once) at a time of growing investment in the region, particularly from Asia, and said he welcomes the support of INTA and other organizations as it faces new challenges.
“The cooperation of INTA has been instrumental in revising the Banjul Protocol and we have also had some very interesting discussions with WIPO.”
