The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe became a member of ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization) with effect from 19 May 2014, with the Harare Protocol entering into force on 19 August 2014. This brings the number of ARIPO Member States to 19 and the number of states party to the Harare Protocol to 18.
Furthermore, as the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe is also a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), this means that any international application filed on or after 19 August 2014 may designate the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe for an ARIPO patent, as well as for a national patent in the country.
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