On 7 July 2023, Adams & Adams' flagship office in Mozambique celebrated its 15-year anniversary as a member of the Adams & Adams Africa Network (AAAN). The network currently stands at 23 Associate Offices across Africa and includes offices in the headquarter countries of the OAPI and ARIPO regional organisations, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe respectively.

The festivities were preceded by a visit to our offices in Pretoria, on Wednesday 5 July 2023, by the newly appointed Director General of the Mozambique Industrial Property Institute (IPI), Ms Sheila Canda. She met with partners of Adams & Adams including the Chairperson of the firm, Ms Kelly Thompson, and the Chairperson of the Africa Strategy Committee, Mr Simon Brown. Ms Canda was accompanied by the Head of Litigation at IPI, Mr Acǻcio Foia, and the Head of Communications at IPI, Mr Honȯrio Cumbi.

Menzi Maboyi, Simon Brown, Acǻcio Foia, Megan Moerdijk, Sheila Canda, Kelly Thompson and Honȯrio Cumbi

A team from Adams & Adams South Africa, which included Ms Kelly Thompson, Mr Simon Brown, and Mr Menzi Maboyi, the Africa Practice Manager, travelled to Mozambique on Friday 7 July, for the anniversary festivities. On the morning of the celebration dinner, the team visited the IPI offices and were warmly welcomed by the Director General's representative, Mr Flavio Malenge who is the Head of Administration and Finance at the IPI. The Adams & Adams team was taken on a tour of the office and met the departmental Heads and their teams. IPI representatives then took the team through a presentation showcasing the history of the organisation, the IP landscape and development of applicable legislation in Mozambique, and their filing statistics.

Kelly Thompson and Simon Brown with Flavio Malenge (centre) and Elio Teixeira (front)

The celebrations at the Mozambique Office are in recognition of the initial steps taken by Adams & Adams in 2008 to establish a sustainable network of Associate Offices, aimed at enhancing its intellectual property (IP) offering in the territories in which it operates. Mr. Elio Teixeira, our partner in the Mozambique Office, and his team hosted the event, which was attended by representatives from the IPI as well as the team from Adams & Adams South Africa.

Menzi Maboyi, Elio Teixeira, Kelly Thompson, and Simon Brown

In his speech, Elio Teixeira thanked his team for the sterling work that they do in delivering exceptional service to our clients not only in Mozambique but in Angola, Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe. He acknowledged the good relations with the office of the IPI and the 15-year partnership with Adams & Adams, which has contributed to the success of their office and its continued growth. Kelly Thompson highlighted Adams & Adams' journey in Mozambique with the filing of the very first trade mark in 1999. As interest with filing in Mozambique grew, it became imperative to identify a partner who shared the firm's ethos of integrity, commitment to service excellence and creation of value to our clients. Kelly expressed the great pride that Adams & Adams have in the Mozambique Office and noted that it has been a real success story for the firm's strategy in Africa and a blueprint for future offices.

With the Adams & Adams Mozambique Team