ARIPO and the UCT IP Unit sign MOU

Screen Shot 2017-08-18 at 12.00.43 PMIn August 2017, the UCT IP Unit and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) signed an MOU for 4 years with the aim of establishing a general framework for cooperation to develop IP in Africa and ensure IP policy coherence on the continent. The MOU was signed to facilitate future collaborations between the two entities such as joint research projects and programmes as well as joint awareness raising activities that recognise and build upon the IP Unit’s important role in research and scholarship in IP law and policy in Southern Africa. ARIPO is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Harare, Zimbabwe, for the cooperation among African states in intellectual property matters. It was established by the Lusaka Agreement in 1976. ARIPO’s objectives as an organisation are listed here. As of August 2017, ARIPO has the following 19 Member States: Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.