This is the second of three reports by Aminou Ndala TITA based in Cameroon on developments at OAPI:
"A regional
workshop was held in Yaoundé on the 8th and 9th of
September 2014 at the headquarters of OAPI on the theme "OAPI - European
Patent Office (EPO) partnership to support the activities of OAPI member States
in the development of innovation by promoting the patent system”. It aimed at
improving the win-win cooperation that has existed since 1985; improving the
procedure for granting patents, the capacity building of staff of OAPI and the
national liaison structures, etc. In attendance were all the member states of
OAPI and a team from the EPO.
This meeting was
organized to strengthen bilateral relationship that existed between both
institutions. It should be recalled that OAPI signed an MOU with EPO as far as back as 1962 when the organization still known as the Intellectual Property Office for
Africa and Malagasy. As from 1977, OAPI was already submitting information for
publication on espace.net.
Overall, the key areas of cooperation
under the new partnership for the
period 2013-2017 will revolve around
training, assistance on patent application, assistance in raising awareness and technical infrastructure. The Yaoundé workshop has consolidated
the position of EPO patents in
the OAPI jurisdiction, increase the use of regional patent system as a factor in economic development and promote the
development of regional innovation and foreign industrial investment in Africa."
You can follow Aminou on the twitter handle @aminoudnalatita
1 comments:
Write commentsBack in 1962 also EPO did not yet exist... Also there it was probably its predecessor; in this case IIB (Institut International des Brevets; International Patent Institute) which also had some African parties: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco (!), Netherlands, Switzerland, Tunisia (!), Turkey, United Kingdom
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