MONROVIA, Montserrado – The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization has designated Liberia as host of its annual administrative and ministerial council meetings scheduled to take place later this month.

The disclosure was made in a release by the Liberia Intellectual Property Office, a semi-autonomous agency responsible for policies concerning intellectual property rights. The meetings will take place between November 18 and 22 at the Farmington Hotel in Margibi. ARIPO, the regional intellectual property organization, facilitates cooperation among member states for the development, protection, and advancement of intellectual property in Africa.

“Currently, there are 19 participating member states of ARIPO, which include Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe,” the release revealed.

The Liberia Intellectual Property Office’s director-general, Adelyn Cooper, said the meetings would bring more than 100 delegates from across the African continent and other parts of the world.

They come at a time when Cooper says Liberia is making efforts to develop policies and strategies to take stronger measures against intellectual property related crimes.

“Amid the challenges, we are working to improve the IP regime in Liberia, and this meeting is a testament of the hard work we are doing to push Liberia on the map as well as strengthening the fight against IP theft locally and international,” he was quoted as saying.

Commerce Minister Wilson Tarpeh, who heads LIPO’s board, said Liberia will benefit from holding the gathering.

“This will also position Liberia through our offices to provide leadership guidance to ARIPO, as chairman for both the Administrative and Ministerial Councils for the next two years,” he said.

The release added that that the meeting will be attended by observers from the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Organization Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle, the Japan Patent Office, the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China, and the United States Patent Office.

Featured photo by LIPO