On 7 September, the African Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the “Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle” (OAPI), the African Union Commission (AUC), the European Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) approved the AfriPI action plan. AfriPI is the first-ever African cooperation project to enhance and promote the protection of Intellectual Property Rights in the African region.
According to the plan, AfrIPI will devote resources to GIs in terms of facilitating registrations, developing common guidelines and training for examiners as well as supporting recognized names, such as “Cabrito de Tete (Mozambique) and “Poivre de Penja” (Cameroun/OAPI). oriGIn will continue its advocacy work aimed at convincing public authorities and donors to increase the support to existing GIs in developing countries to facilitate the creation, functioning and governance of producers’ groups as well as the implementation of control systems.
AfrIPI is funded by the European Commission and EUIPO. It aims to strengthen national and regional IP institutions and enforcement systems as well as to support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfFTA). More information is available @ https://euipoeuf.eu/en/afripi
