At the Administrative Council of OAPI, the JPO expressed the willingness to actively cooperate with Africa

December 18, 2023

On December 12th, the 63rd session of the OAPI Administrative Council^*1 was held in Burkina Faso, and a video message by Mr. MOROOKA Kenichi, Director-General of the Patent Examination Department (Mechanical Technology) of the JPO, was shown at the opening session.

Mr. MOROOKA mentioned that new services applying cutting-edge technology are spreading in Africa, and Africa's leapfrogging^*2 has recently been attracting worldwide attention. He also expressed his belief that it is becoming increasingly important to create a business environment which is conducive to innovation and stated that JPO would continue to promote active cooperation with Africa in the area of intellectual property.

Through continued cooperation with African IP offices, the JPO will continue to promote the development of an environment in which the intellectual property can be quickly and smoothly secured, as well as properly protected, throughout Africa.

• *1 Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (the African Intellectual Property Organization) - Regional Intellectual Property Office with 17 mainly French-speaking countries in Africa. Administrative Council is a conference where the heads of IP offices of OAPI member states meet together to discuss the policies and plans of activities.
• *2 A phenomenon in which certain technologies and infrastructure are developed and penetrate at a faster rate in emerging countries than in developed countries.
   

Video message from Mr. MOROOKA, Director-General,
Patent Examination Department (Mechanical Technology), JPO

[Last updated 18 December 2023]