Around the web for Africa IP-related news
Kenya: The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has been kept busy with its lobbying efforts to curb counterfeits in the country. This Leo has learned that, among other issues, KAM urges manufacturers to obtain registered IP rights for their products from the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) so as to help in the fight against counterfeits. (Brilliant advert for KIPI and IP practitioners in Kenya, says Afro Leo).
The same KAM is mentioned in this article which reports on a proposal by the Kenya Anti-Counterfeit Agency to introduce a 15-year prison sentence for IP infringement in the Anti-Counterfeit Act No.13 of 2008. (Afro Leo cordially invites his Kenyan friends to enlighten us further on this news)
WIPO makes life a whole lot easier: Conducting due diligence on that client's proposed mark? Why not try WIPO’s Global Brand Database - now with over 10 Million trade marks after the addition of data collections from countries including: Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. This Leo is not surprised because these three African countries all have their houses in order (i.e. online presence) as we have seen in our review since July 2012. (Afro Leo wants to know what can be done about those African countries, with significant economic potentials, who are yet to get their IP offices online and/or equipped with a searchable database.)
Egypt: If you happen to be in Egypt on the 23rd - 24th of March 2013 and have an interest in the publishing industry, you may want to attend the Second Arab Publishers’ Conference in Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt. The theme of the conference is 'Knowledge Enablement & The Challenges Facing Arab Publishing' and as you rightly guessed, IP issues will be discussed. For more details and how to register, see here.
