ARIPO is the African Regional Industrial Property Organisation for English-speaking Africa. The member countries are Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, 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:
- Power of Attorney (simply signed) - can be late filed within 2 months;
- 6 sets of formal drawings - required on the day of filing;
- Assignment of Design - can be late filed, no set deadline; and
- 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 about US$ 1500.00. To this must be added the designation fees of about US$ 12.00 per member state designated.
