A to Z of official African IP websites no.54: Zimbabwe

The 54th and final episode in Kingsley Egbuonu's A to Z tour of official African IP websites ends on a low note with a report on Zimbabwe --a country that plays host to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) but which, sadly, has so far failed to get its own act together.  Kingsley explains:

Overview


Zimbabwe is a Contracting Party to a number of treaties on intellectual property including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. It is also a Member of ARIPO.

Copyright Office

• The Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office (ZIPO) is the competent office responsible for copyright and related rights in Zimbabwe.

• This online address of this office is www.justice.gov.zw.

Industrial Property Office

• The Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office (ZIPO) is the competent office responsible for the administration of intellectual property rights in Zimbabwe.

• The website for this office can be found here.

Social Media Presence

None found.

Intellectual Property update in Zimbabwe

Afro-IP has reported various developments and/or updates of practical significance in recent times including here, here and here.

Conclusion

Just about a week ago, Afro Leo was excited by what he discovered in Zambia; today, he is a bit disappointed to learn that Zimbabwe has no dedicated website for its intellectual property office.

This generic website which belongs to the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs perhaps promises so much that it is unable and/or yet to deliver on; for example, we found that the Department of Deed, Companies, Trade Marks and Patents and Industrial Designs’ mission statement is “To register, protect and facilitate easy access to information on proprietary rights in land, formal business organizations and Intellectual Property.....” while its vision is “To be the best service provider in the protection of proprietary rights in the region.”

While Afro-IP can understand that in some countries, inter alia, budgetary constraints might hamper the progress of intellectual property rights administration and/or sensitisation; it is quite difficult to muster excuses in this case considering that Zimbabwe hosts ARIPO, including various IP training programmes (here and here) for the region.

Who should assist with this issue: the government of Zimbabwe or ARIPO? Kingsley tweets as @IPinAfrica. He currently has 292  followers.