ARIPO is the African
Regional Industrial Property Organisation for English-speaking
Africa. The member countries are Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia (from 24 April 2004), Sierra
Leone, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Please note that protection can alternatively be obtained on an
individual basis in any of these countries via a national application
in such country.
ARIPO is a member of
the International Convention and of the PCT.
The requirements for
filing a non-PCT application in ARIPO are as follows:
(a) Power
of Attorney (simply signed) - can be late filed within two
months;
(b) Specification, claims, drawings, and abstract in English -
required on the day of filing;
(c) Assignment of Invention
- can be late filed, no set deadline; and
(d) Priority document with verified English translation - can
be late filed, within 3 and 6 months, respectively.
The requirements for
filing a PCT application in ARIPO are as follows:
(i) Power of Attorney
(simply signed) - can be late filed within two months;
(ii) Specification, claims, drawings, and abstract in English
- required on the day of filing;
(iii) Assignment of Invention - can be late filed, no set deadline;
(iv) Copy of PCT International advertisement - required on day
of filing;
(v) Copy of International Search Report - can be late filed, no
set deadline; and
(vi) Copy of International Preliminary Examination Report - can
be late filed, no set deadline.
It is possible to designate
the ARIPO member states to which the application applies. We estimate
that the cost of filing a patent application in ARIPO will be
between about US$ 2000.00 and US$ 2200.00 (excluding translation
fees, if necessary). To this must be added the fees for claiming
each priority date at about US$ 50.00 per priority claim, the
designation fees at about US$ 100.00 per member state designated,
and the first renewal fee (due retrospectively on the 1st anniversary
of the international filing date) at about US$ 300.00 for the
first member state designated plus about US$ 50.00 for each successive
member state designated.
Please note that this
cost estimate excludes the search and examination fee which at
present is approximately US$ 700.00 (sometimes not necessary on
PCT national phase applications if a clear IPER has been issued
and accepted by ARIPO) and the grant and publication fee which
at present is about US$ 1200.00, both of which are only payable
at a later date.
Please note further
that surcharges for claims in excess of 10 (about US$ 25.00 per
claim) are payable and surcharges are also payable on the length
of the specification (pages over 40 at about US$ 12.00 per page).
These surcharges are payable with the grant and publication fees
ie. not at the time of filing.
ARIPO
DESIGN REGISTRATIONS
ARIPO is the African
Regional Industrial Property Organisation for English-speaking
Africa. The member countries are Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia (from 24 April 2004), Sierra
Leone, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Please note that protection can alternatively be obtained on an
individual basis in any of these countries via a national application
in such country.
ARIPO is a member of
the International Convention.
The requirements for
filing a design application in ARIPO are as follows:
(a) Power of Attorney
(simply signed) - can be late filed within 2 months;
(b) 6 sets of formal drawings - required on the day of filing;
(c) Assignment of Design
- can be late filed, no set deadline; and
(d) Priority document with verified English translation - can
be late filed within 3 months and 6 months, respectively.
It is possible to designate
the ARIPO member states to which the application applies. We estimate
that the cost of filing a design application in ARIPO will be
between about US$ 1500.00 and US$ 1700.00. To this must be added
the fees for claiming each priority date at about US$ 50.00 per
priority claim, and the designation fees at about US$ 50.00 per
member state designated.
ARIPO
TRADEMARK REGISTRATIONS
Member
States: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda,
Zimbabwe
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Filing requirements
