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Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.
The expression "industrial designs" covers industrial designs and models.
Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in this series of Annual Technical Reports.
The main policies and plans of ARIPO in 2014 were anchored on the Consolidated Medium Term Strategic Plan 2014 - 2015 biennium adopted by the Administrative Council of ARIPO at its 37th Session held in Kampala, Uganda from November 25 to 26, 2013. The Consolidated Strategic Plan approved by the Administrative Council reduced the strategic goals to five, and the implementing programmes to 15.
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of industrial design information activities and expected time frames for their realization
Despite the relevance of the utility models in innovation in Africa and its importance for the protection of local inventors, applications are low. However, it’s worth highlighting that the utility models filed in 2014 originated from patent agents, thus showing a growing interest on this right by the specialists on IP.
The industrial designs, although maintaining the positive trend did not show significant difference with the previous years.
The most designated States in industrial designs in the year 2014 are: Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Zambia.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies(plans) mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
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Main areas of industrial design information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
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Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
There was a decline in new applications received in 2014 compared to 2013. Only 154 new applications were received for 2014 compared to 217 in 2013
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc
-Website: www.aripo.org
-Face book account under African Regional Intellectual Property Organization
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Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
To ensure compliance with the ARIPO patent procedures, a number of national roving seminars under the theme "making better use of intellectual property for business competitiveness and development in Africa" were held as follows:
Swaziland from March 24 to 28; Mozambique from April 21 to 25; Liberia from April 28 to May 2; Sierra Leone from May 19 to 23 and The Gambia from August 4 to 8 benefiting a total of 655 participants.
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
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Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
ARIPO uses the International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification) system
Other activities
Digitization of documents under the WIPOScan project continued.
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Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information, outline of the content (industrial design applications, design patents, registrations, etc.) and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
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Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
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Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
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Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
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Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
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Other sources
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Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
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Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
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Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
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Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
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Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
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Other matters
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Office's library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
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Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
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Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
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Education and training: training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
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Other activities
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International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
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Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information
The 31st Session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademark, Industrial Designs and the Geographical Indications from March 17 to 21
The 4th Session of the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs from June 16 to 20
Assistance to developing countries
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Other activities
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