Published - Landmark Intellectual Property Textbook from an African perspective

April 9, 2021

In 2015, a book project was conceptualized to not only provide a cornerstone textbook for use by African and global scholars in the discipline of Intellectual Property (IP), but to also add an important voice from the continent. The text, “Intellectual Property Law, Practice and Management: Perspectives from Africa”, was developed out of a collaboration of the best minds from Africa University and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) with support from the Government of Japan through the Funds-In-Trust (FIT) Japan IP Global. Key authors and contributors to the publication hailed from a range of diverse IP backgrounds, skillsets and nationalities to provide a rich mix of content that would add value and a wide depth of IP expertise. Officially released as a softcopy version in 2018, the publication is now available in hardcopy, and an e-book launched in 2021, which brings ease of access to students across the continent and the globe.

The text comprises 19 chapters that deal with a wide range of critical aspects of IP best practice, including IP management with examples and practices anchored in international, regional and national experiences. The content covers substantive IP topics and management of IP.  

The late Professor Munashe Furusa, Vice Chancellor of Africa University gave the foreword to the textbook where he stressed the importance of the textbook as well as the partnership between WIPO, ARIPO, Africa University and the support from the Government of Japan that birthed the IP textbook. He wrote,

“This textbook would be an important collection for the intellectual property student, the practicing intellectual property attorney, the entrepreneur, innovator, IP management specialist and anyone with an interest in the field of intellectual property. This work is a joint effort of a number of renowned specialists teaching and practicing intellectual property across Africa and beyond. The book comes out as a key output of the Masters in Intellectual Property programme offered by Africa University in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) with assistance from the Government of Japan. The training programme creates a cadre of an African professional who can exploit the knowledge economy; generate new ideas, create and improve the general wellbeing of the African people. Africa University is blessed and proud to host this programme in the African region.”

Participants of the MIP programme at Africa University have been using the text since it was launched in 2018. The publication has been distributed widely during conferences on IP in Africa and globally and is also among the collection of IP texts in the Africa University Jokomo Yamada Library.  Elsewhere in Africa, the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) are also using this valuable book.

The MIP programme is jointly offered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and Africa University with financial assistance from the FIT Japan IP Global. This MIP programme addresses the critical shortage of human resources in IP in the Africa region by educating students and young professionals in the field of IP.