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Automation of Intellectual Property Offices in Africa Gains Ground

Geneva, November 3, 2005
Press Releases PR/2005/429

An "African Regional Workshop on IP Office Automation" organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Harare from October 31 to November 2, 2005 took stock of the Organization's efforts to assist intellectual property offices (IPOs) in automating their operations under its "IP Office Services Support (IPOSS) Program." Organized in coordination with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), this event, the first of its kind in the region, brought together representatives of IPOs to exchange and share experiences on the use, operation, support and future directions of the automation system provided to them by WIPO.

Given the increased use of the intellectual property (IP) system and the growing economic importance of IP rights to business, IPOs around the world are under increasing pressure to ensure efficient delivery of their services; to reduce the time and costs associated with granting rights and to improve the quality of search and examination of patents, trademarks, and industrial designs. IP service delivery in many developing countries, however, is still manual and as a consequence, many of these offices are finding it difficult to cope with the growing backlog of IP applications. In a move to effectively respond to the needs of their clients and constituents, these IPOs have set the automation of their business processes as a top priority.

During the past three years, WIPO has intensified its efforts to assist its member states in coping with this challenge. Under the IPOSS Program, WIPO assists IPOs in the simplification of business procedures, provides them with WIPO-developed automation systems, supports the development of customized automation solutions for processing trademarks, patents and industrial designs, and provides training, technical guidance and advice and new releases of enhanced automation products. As a consequence, the level of automation in the IPOs has steadily grown.

WIPO's comprehensive IPO automation system, is a proven solution that covers end-to-end processing of IP business processes throughout their life-cycle. Designed to ensure sustainable automation solutions for IPOs across all regions, the WIPO automation system has delivered concrete benefits to IPOs and encouraged inter-regional harmonization and alignment with international standards and best practices. Some 34 IPOs across all regions (Africa 11, Latin American and Caribbean 8, Arab States 12, Asia-Pacific 2, countries in transition 1) are currently using the WIPO system. Several more IPOs are at different stages of automation planning, preparation and deployment.

WIPO's assistance to IPOs has evolved into a strategic partnership. As IPOs take over full ownership and responsibility of the systems provided by WIPO, they provide WIPO with useful feedback on ways to enhance and customize its delivery methodology. In the Harare workshop, 12 participants from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe discussed a wide range of issues and made specific suggestions on how to improve mutual cooperation in this field.

Participants called for similar meetings in the future with emphasis on inter-regional involvement to allow for exchange of experiences, and discussion of challenges and solutions in this area. Participants welcomed the interactive nature of the workshop which allowed automation experts to immediately address a number of common difficulties encountered by the administrators and users of the automation systems. They appreciated the software tools provided by WIPO, which had translated into sizeable benefits for their IPOs, particularly in terms of improving the efficiency and speed with which IP information was processed and published. This allowed them to provide the IP community with better quality services. Several participants requested further training on the WIPO systems.

Participants also recognized that automation is not an end in itself in the modernization of IPOs. An efficient IPO with a national database should be a "hub' to carry out focused outreach programs, provide quality services to the IP user community in general, including research and development institutes, and small and medium sized enterprises. In this way, countries can better exploit the IP system as a tool for development.

WIPO has undertaken extensive work in laying the foundations for the automation of IPOs through the introduction of information technology (IT) services over the last few years. An early initiative in this regard was the deployment of WIPONET which included the provision of equipment, Internet connectivity and training to IPOs. WIPONET also spawned a culture of IT usage in many IPOs in the developing countries and exposed them to the benefits of electronic communication and the wealth of information available on the Internet.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:

  • Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
  • Fax: (+41 22) - 338 88 10
  • Email: publicinf@wipo.int.
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