Lusaka Agreement

At a patents and copyright seminar for English-speaking African countries organised in October 1972 by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the country representatives endorsed a plan to have WIPO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) organise a conference to discuss the harmonisation of industrial property legislation and the creation of a central office.^[7] The conference, to which 19 English-speaking countries were invited, took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 4 to 10 June 1974.^[8] During the conference, a draft agreement toward the establishment of an organisation on industrial property for the English-speaking African countries was prepared and several resolutions were passed to facilitate that goal; it was also agreed to eventually hold a diplomatic conference to adopt the draft.^[8]

The diplomatic conference to adopt the agreement was subsequently convened by WIPO and UNECA in Lusaka, Zambia, from 6 to 9 December 1976.^[9] 13 English-speaking African countries sent delegates.^[10] The "Agreement on the Creation of the Industrial Property Organization for English-speaking Africa" (Lusaka Agreement) was adopted on 9 December 1976 with Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Somalia, Uganda, and Zambia as original signatories.^[11] It entered into force on 15 February 1978.^[9] The general purpose of the new regional organisation, known at the time as ESARIPO, was to achieve a higher degree of cooperation in the area of industrial property; this included efforts to work toward the harmonisation and joint development of national industrial property laws.^[10] The organisation was originally based in Nairobi, Kenya, until it was decided in 1981 to move the headquarters to Harare, Zimbabwe.^[12]

Under the Lusaka Agreement, membership to ESARIPO was originally open to English-speaking African countries (Lusaka Agreement, art IV). The Agreement also provided that the organisation maintain a close working relationship with WIPO and UNECA (art V) and cooperate with other appropriate organisations (art VI) such as OAPI.^[10] Early on, ESARIPO was especially focused on harmonisation efforts in the area of patent law. At the Diplomatic Conference in Lusaka, the members requested that until the organisation has established its own secretariat, WIPO and UNECA should "take the necessary preparatory steps for the implementation of the project to establish a patent documentation center in the framework of a regional Office".^[13] This process culminated in the adoption of the Harare Protocol on patents on designs in 1982.^[14]