ARIPO-AC39: Review of Official Fees for ARIPO applications
The 39th Session of the Administrative Council of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) was held in Lusaka, the Republic of Zambia, from 16-18 November 2015.
During the Session, the ARIPO office proposed that certain amendments to the official fees for patent, utility model and industrial design filings as well as trade mark filings be made. The amendments that were proposed include a reduction in the filing fee for applications that are filed through the new e-filing system, the introduction of a fee for the change of an agent and an increase in the fees for an extension of time request.
In order to encourage the use of the e-filing system, ARIPO proposed a reduction in fees for applications lodged online through the e-filing system by 20%. The e-filing system permits on-line filing, on-line payment, on-line filing inspection and access to the ARIPO Journal. Presently only 10% of ARIPO filings are made through the e-filing system, which has been in operation since April 2015. It is hoped that with the reduction of filing fees the number of online filings will increase. The use of this system will in turn reduce the manual workload and time required for processing of applications thereby increasing the number of applications being examined.
The following amendments were proposed and approved during the Session of the Administrative Council:
Patent filings
Application fee for applications lodged though e-filing system USD 200 (reduced from USD 250)
Request for an extension of time:
First request ................................................................USD 100 (increased from USD 50 for any request)
Second request.........................................................USD 200
Third and further requests................................USD 400
Status search fee.....................................................USD 100
Change of agent.................................................................USD 100
Utility Model filings
Application fee for applications
lodged though e-filing system .............................USD 80 (reduced from USD 100)
Request for an extension of time ......................USD 10 / extension
Status search fee............................................................USD 10
Change of agent..............................................................USD 50
Industrial Design filings
Application fee for applications
lodged though e-filing system .............................USD 40 (reduced from USD 50)
Request for an extension of time.......................USD 50 / extension
Status search fee............................................................USD 50
Change of agent..............................................................USD 50
Trade Mark filings
Application fee for applications
lodged though e-filing system ..........................USD 80 (reduced from USD 100)
Request for an extension of time ....................USD 50 / extension
Search fee .........................................................................USD 50
Change of agent ...........................................................USD 50
A surcharge of USD 5 per word for every additional word in excess of 50 words for a description of goods or services
Rouse Africa has amended its fees to provide for the reduction in filing fees. Please contacts us for updated fee sheets.
For more information kindly contact Gunther Roland
