Afro-IP's effort to "Help Francis" decide where to place his external offices in two mysteriously unnamed African countries, ended a few days ago. The results, reflecting the views of 147 voters, could not be closer:
21 (14%)
|
1 (0%)
|
38 (25%)
|
39 (26%)
|
43 (29%)
|
3 (2%)
|
3 (2%)
|
2 (1%)
|
3 (2%)
|
4 (2%)
|
6 (4%)
|
4 (2%)
|
2 (1%)
|
1 (0%)
|
1 (0%)
|
4 (2%)
|
9 (6%)
|
Votes so far: 147
Poll closed
Poll closed
Zimbabwe is of course the country that hosts the ARIPO office which would be useful to WIPO (and to ARIPO). Kenya, is a major player in the East Africa region and appears to have a supportive government. However, leaving out contenders like South Africa (the economic powerhouse on the continent), Nigeria (the most talked about African hotspot) or one of the OAPI countries (the successful French based African IP system) is going to be very difficult indeed.
1 comments:
Write commentsAs a Zimbo. I feel adding a regional WIPO office would probably just add to the complacency of the Zimbabwe Patent office who seem content with having ARIPO next to them.
ReplyAlso, another poll victory for Mugabe :)