IPOI attends IP Tools Workshop in association with the EUIPO

Pictured Above at the Workshop: Martin Beckman & Miguel Olivares from the EUIPO, John Nolan from the IPOI, Henry Ukurut from Africa IPR and the Director General of ARIPO.

In the last decade, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has worked very closely with the European Union’s Member States IP offices to develop IT tools that help the offices work more efficiently and make IP information freely available to the public in an open and transparent way. These tools were demonstrated to the ARIPO member states through a workshop on the integration and implementation of IP tools that took place on 21 and 22 June 2022 in Harare, Zimbabwe.

IT tools will provide immediate tangible benefits to the users of the IP system in Africa, such as, among others, quality and reliability, and access to information. At the same time, these tools generate efficiency gains for IP administrations and frees up resources to expand the IP rights services offered.

The workshop established a clear roadmap of the tools each office in the ARIPO member states would want to use. The tools that were presented included TMview, DesignView, TMclass, DesignClass) and the e-filing of trademark applications system (linked with the Harmonised Database of Goods and Services).

The Irish Office, which has long been an active participant in the EUIPO Cooperation and Convergence Programmes, was delighted to present at this event and share its positive experiences with the delegates.