Patent Examination and PCT Training Commences at ARIPO

Patent examiners and intellectual property professionals from across Africa are in Harare for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Regional Training on Patent Examination and the Patent Cooperation Treaty for African Countries, a three-day regional training programme aimed at bolstering the continent’s capacity to examine patents and navigate the complex machinery of the international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Hosted at the headquarters of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in Harare, the workshop will run until Thursday, 12 March 2026, and has been organised by WIPO in collaboration with ARIPO and with the support of the Japan Patent Office (JPO).

ARIPO’s Director of Intellectual Property, Mr. David Njuguna, spoke at the official opening ceremony on behalf of Director General Mr. Bemanya Twebaze, and made clear that the stakes of getting patent examination right extend well beyond the walls of any IP office.    

“Effective patent examination is essential not only for protecting genuine inventions, but also for fostering technology transfer, encouraging investment, supporting local innovators, and safeguarding the public interest.”

Central to the week’s discussions is the Patent Cooperation Treaty, an international framework that allows inventors to file a single international patent application covering more than 150 countries. For African offices, the consolidation of resources supports centralized examination of every application, as well as the treaty’s search and preliminary examination reports, which provide invaluable context for informed decision-making.

The Director General underscored this point, noting that the PCT helps national and regional offices reduce duplication of work and improve efficiency. “Building strong capacity to understand and use PCT work products enables African patent offices to fully benefit from the global patent system while responding to regional development priorities,” he said.

WIPO’s Senior Program Officer in the PCT International Cooperation Division, Mr. Taegeun Kim, is one of the principal facilitators, together with ARIPO’s patent examiners, Ms. Odireleng Keipopele, Dr. Makhosazana Gamedze and Dr. Ramzy Kuku.

The programme concludes on Thursday. Outcomes from the three days are expected to feed into WIPO’s broader Africa programme and ARIPO’s strategic capacity-building agenda for its member states.