Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) took part in the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) African Intellectual Property (IP) seminar held in Tokyo on March 9, 2009.
A press release by AGIP stated that the event witnessed the participation of more than 100 top IP in-house consultants for major Japanese companies and IP firms, such as; Toshiba Corporation, Canon Inc, Sony Corporation, NGB Corporation, Yuasa and Hara.
Speaking at the conference were Yasou Ohkuma from the Japan Patent Office, Tsutomo Yoshioka from AIPPI, Dario Tanziani from Adams & Adams and Motasem Abu-Ghazaleh from AGIP.
In his presentation, Motasem discussed the industrial property protection system in African countries tackling the registration procedures and requirements in addition to infringement of the IP rights in these countries. He also shed light on relevant conventions and bodies that each country is a member of as well as frequently asked questions.
Meanwhile, Ohkuma focused in his presentation on the growth of African countries’ economies in the past few years calling on the developed countries to support these economies and businesses.
According to Ohkuma, this cooperation will improve the IP protection status in African countries in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in a mechanism to grant additional support from other international foundations and organizations like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Further, Ohkuma presented statistics of IPR registrations and the most countries in which the Japanese companies register their IPRs in with a brief introduction about the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) systems.
On the other hand, Tanziani of Adams & Adams focused in his presentation about the trademark and patent registration procedures in OAPI and ARIPO countries, namely; South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya.
SOURCE：AGIPNEWS
