Thirty-five is now the number of countries whose official IP websites have come up for scrutiny by Kingsley Egbuonu on behalf of Afro-IP in his tireless A to Z pursuit of good, accessible official information and support of users of the various registered and unregistered IP systems. This week it's the turn of Mozambique -- and this is what Kingley has to say:
Overview
Mozambique is a Contracting Party to several intellectual property treaties with the notable exclusion of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. It is also member of ARIPO.
Copyright Office
• The National Institute of Book and Discs (INLD) (Ministry of Culture) is the competent office responsible for copyright and related rights in Mozambique.
• This office has no website
Industrial Property Office
• The Industrial Property Institute (IPI) (Ministry of Industry and Commerce) is the competent office responsible for the administration of intellectual property rights in Mozambique.
• The website www.ipi.gov.mz is in Portuguese. It has both English and French options. A little trial showed that the English option does not actually translate all pages.
Social Media Presence
None found
Intellectual Property update in Mozambique
In 2010, the INLD organised a seminar on the proposed revision of copyright law and related rights and regulations under MDG-F’s Joint Programme for Cultural and Creative Industries and Inclusive Policies in Mozambique (here).
No further update was found.
Conclusion
Afro-IP is impressed with the IPI’s website, notwithstanding the language barrier. It is user-friendly and contains the requisite information one would expect from an IP office.
It took the United States of America a long time – even after many African countries -- to ratify the Berne Convention, but Mozambique hasn't quite go there yet. Afro-IP would be glad to hear from anyone regarding the proposed copyright law changes in Mozambique and/or whether Mozambique has any plans to ratify the Convention.
Kingsley tweets like a bird at
@IPinAfrica
