Africa / IP / ARIPO and OAPI

In the Journal of World Intellectual Property, Vol 3, No 2 (March, 2000), Tshimanga Kongolo, Assistant Professor, Osaka University, describes the African Intellectual Property Organizations and urges the need to adopt a single uniform system for the continent. The author outlines the different systems of the English speaking African Regional Intellectual Property Organization and the French speaking OAPI and points out that neither system has "yet been able to contribute, in a positive and effective manner, to the development process of their Member States". The author suggests, first, that the two organizations should be combined in a single body and, secondly, that the unified body should extend to cultural matters and the preservation of folklore. [20005]