Interview – ARIPO Director General Fernando dos Santos

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Interview – ARIPO Director General Fernando dos Santos

“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.

“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.”

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

A $110 million US verdict against Apple and an appellate order staying a $39 million trademark infringement finding against Amazon were also among the top talking points
Attorneys are watching how AI affects trademark registrations and whether a SCOTUS ruling from last year will have broader free speech implications
Patent lawyers explain why they will be keeping an eye on the implications of a pharma case and on changes at the USPTO in the second half of 2025
The insensitive reaction to a UK politician crying on TV proves we have a long way to go before we can say we are tackling workplace wellbeing
Adrian Percer says he was impressed by the firm’s work on billion-dollar cases as well as its culture
In our latest interview with women IP leaders, Catherine Bonner at Murgitroyd discusses technology, training, and teaching
Developments included an update in the VAR dispute between Ballinno and UEFA, the latest CMS updates, and a swathe of market moves
The LMG Life Sciences Americas Awards is thrilled to present the 2025 shortlist
A new order has brought the total security awarded to a Canadian tech company to $45 million, the highest-ever by an Indian court in an IP case
Andrew Blattman reflects on how IP practices have changed and shares his hopes for increased AI use and better performance on the stock market
Gift this article