RYAN CHIGOCHE
The African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) and the Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation in Africa project, also known as AfrIPI have said utility models and industrial designs uptake is critical for the development of Small to Medium Enterprises Development (SMEs).
“Utility model products are inextricably linked to our SMEs and have the capability of uplifting our communities from unemployment. I see endless opportunities in utility models and industrial designs for the continent,” ARIPO director general Bemanya Twebaze told delegates at a workshop in Harare.
AfriPI team leader Dennis Scheirs, who also spoke at the workshop said albeit the low uptake in Africa and also being the less utilised, they can be critical to SMEs.
“In the ARIPO region, two of the lesser-known and less used intellectual property rights are industrial designs and utility models. Even though these rights are less known and less used, they can be extremely useful for smaller businesses, the SMEs. The aim of industrial designs is to protect the visual appearance of a product,’’ Scheirs said.
“Only a few of the African SMEs are aware of the advantages that IP can bring to them and how it can make their business stronger, hence (the objective of this workshop),” Scheirs added.
Utility models are also known as a ‘petty patent’.
While a patent requires complicated technical requirements to secure legal rights, a utility model is suitable for inventions involving less technical input.
ARIPO operates a system for the registration of designs based on the Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs, and its Implementing Regulations.
An ARIPO registered design is protected for 15 years unless the laws of an ARIPO Member State where the registration is in effect provides a different term of protection.
The purpose of ARIPO is to pool resources for the promotion, development and harmonisation of the IP laws and policies of ARIPO Member States. The objective of ARIPO, amongst others, is to establish common services and organs for IP coordination, development and harmonisation.
AfrIPI is a pan-African project that aims to support the European Union in creating, administering, utilising, protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights across Africa.
Universities, research and development institutions, and intellectual property offices from ARIPO Member States are part of this workshop as they can harness creativity and innovation in the ARIPO region to benefit inventors and the economies of ARIPO member States.
