Tunisia joins Madrid

Tunisia joins Madrid

By Afro Ng'ombe   Tuesday, October 22, 2013   No comments:

The Protocol, of course.  The country of Tunisia did not simply hop over the Mediterranean and plop down in the center of the Spanish capital, though that is quite an amusing image.

WIPO announced this week that Tunisia has joined the Madrid System for international trademark registrations.  As explained in the WIPO press release, the Madrid System allows a trademark owner to register their mark in many countries around the world with one application, one set of fees (the fees do go up the more countries you add to your list), and one currency (because we all love Swiss Francs).

Tunisia is the fourteenth country from Africa to join the Madrid System.  The most recent prior entry was Rwanda this past August. Perhaps the two most surprising omissions from the list of Madrid Protocol signatories are South Africa and Nigeria, especially since nearly all of South Africa’s neighbors have joined.  (Zimbabwe is the odd one out there.)

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Finally there is life online in Nigeria

Finally there is life online in Nigeria

By Anonymous   Thursday, July 26, 2012   No comments:

The Commercial Law Department, Trademarks Patents and Designs Registry, Ministry of Trade and Investment of Nigeria (Afro Leo says: "gosh! what a mouthful") announced in a press release earlier this month - precisely, Monday, 09 July 2012 - that it expects to start accepting online registration of trade mark, patent and designs from 16 July 2012. Consequently, the Registry will no longer accept manual applications and bank drafts for payment as these can now be done online. The statement also talks about an online search facility for registered intellectual property (IP) rights - this little Leo's favourite - stating that that would also go live soon (Afro Leo feels that this would be exclusive to accredited agents, so not free to the public).

Interestingly, the opening paragraph of the release said: "In its commitment to providing prompt and excellent service delivery consistent with modern innovation and technology, the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, recently engaged an indigenous Technology Consultant to automate itsTrademark, Patent and Designs (TP&D) Registry. This is to ensure convenience and efficiency in its operations, as well as discourage corrupt practices, necessitated by the cumbersome nature of the old process."(Corrupt practices? Afro Leo is thinking whether they are the type reported here  here  here and here on the IPKat weblog or perhaps, some people were claiming to be rights-holders when they are not. Hmmm, he has no idea.)

Digressing for a moment, this little Leo is curious about the new accreditation scheme, (which sounds like customer/user registration to Afro Leo as he has seen here in South Africa), however, he does understand the idea of professional face-to-face or telephone advice from the office (Although Afro Leo doesn't get the point of accreditation in the first place) and even payment of a fee (Okay, fair enough, Afro Leo has seen something like the latter in South Africa). So, what is this accreditation all about? According to the information on the Registry's page:

"Accreditation is a mandatory process for law firms, stakeholders and potential IP practitioners that wish to act as agents. Accreditation helps to identify a legal practitioner or agent in the area of Industrial Property Registrations in Nigeria. By Being an Accredited agent of the Registry, you have an edge over other attorneys and stakeholders that are not accredited. Requests will be treated from accredited agents as a matter of priority and provided with full customer support." 

"...After your accreditation form has been received, the approving officer will certify that you are qualified to act as an agent of the Registry."

To this Leo, the above infers that the Registry is almost acting like the USPTO or even IPReg by appearing to create a separate profession, despite a fused one in Nigeria. He is also aware that Kenya seems to have a similar scheme. (Slightly optimistic Afro Leo says that this is not generally a bad idea, but wishes that it can be done effectively and at least, there must be tough IP exams, not just filling a form and paying a one-off fee. As for the fee, he is not sure if it would be sustainable for whatever it was intended for. Anyway, they know what is best for them.) Taking all that in, this little Leo would like to know whether this is in accordance with the Legal Practitioners Act or with any other enabling law, and would be grateful if readers in Nigeria can comment generally on the issue.

Back to the press release, which ended with this: "In conclusion, this new project is expected to raise the profile of Nigeria in the area of Intellectual Property protection, in a way consistent with best practices across the globe. It is therefore expected that all relevant Stakeholders should ensure a quick buy-in by getting accredited using the online procedure as directed." ("Maybe, Afro IP touched hearts and minds", says Afro Leo)

So what do we learn from this? Well, at last, the Registry in Nigeria has come to the conclusion that having an online presence has its unique benefits ("at least, in their view, it would curb corrupt practices" says Afro Leo). This development is great news indeed considering last year's findings in our A-Z series; but we all know that there is no room for complacency if the office is to keep up with international best practices in IP administration. Commendable progress, excellent vision.

PS: a few suggestions from little Leo:

(a) Tighten up the website as it has an odd space below pages

(b) Upload materials in the publication section under Patents, Trade Marks and Designs (for example, see Kenya's here)

(c) Upload current legislations, regulations, practice manuals, IP case law and policies under the Laws & Policies page

(d) Tried Twitter or Facebook? Trust me, you won't be alone, for example meet @ZARRSO, @COSONNG, @RDBrwanda, @kipikenya and @NOTAPdesk.(Embed on the website too)

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SLOW NEWS DAY: RELOCATION OF THE TRADEMARKS REGISTRY IN NIGERIA

SLOW NEWS DAY: RELOCATION OF THE TRADEMARKS REGISTRY IN NIGERIA

By Anonymous   Friday, January 07, 2011   No comments:

The registration of a trademark in Nigeria, as anyone who has ever attempted can attest to, is a time-consuming, expensive and often frustrating process. The registry in Abuja is dark, lacking in a lot of the resources necessary to ensure a smooth working environment and most importantly, the files located at the registry are NOT COMPUTERIZED. One cannot be 100% positive about the system in place for the registration of marks but one thing can be sure, it is by no means a perfectly effective system.

In order to try to rectify the situation, two features have been implemented. The first is the increase in the fees charged for filing. The fees for filing a registration have effectively doubled and the fees for renewals, searches and pretty much everything else you can think of have increased significantly as well. This change was implemented by Senator Jubril Martins Kuye, the present Minister for Commerce and Industry in line with Section 45(1)(e) of the Trademarks Act which allows for the Minister to prescribe “the fees to be paid in respect of applications, registrations and other matters”. All in all the increases have been significant and taking into account the number of registrations that are filed and the consequent renewals necessary, it would be of great assistance in making the registry more efficient.

The second feature that has been implemented is even more dramatic. The entire trade marks registry has relocated. It has moved to what we can only assume (and hope) is a more spacious building with full time electricity and a more effective system for organizing the files. This writer has not actually had the pleasure of visiting the new registry in our Nation’s Capital personally but remains quietly confident that the move will indeed result in the increase of productivity. When making enquiries as to when I would receive certain documentation from the trademarks registry just before Christmas, I was told to be patient and assured that the move will indeed result in a more efficient system.

So there we have it, the days of disorder and chaos at the trademarks registry will soon come to an end… and there is still no need for the use of a computer (does anyone else sense my sarcasm?)!!!!!!!!!!

Please leave any and all comments after the jump and share any personal experiences you’ve had with the registry, old or new.

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