The Gambia deposited its Instrument of Ratification to the Banjul Protocol on Marks with the Director-General of ARIPO on 3 May 2021 and the Banjul Protocol took effect on 3 August 2021, making The Gambia the 12th contracting State of the Banjul Protocol on Trademarks. This ratification allows for trademark applicants to designate The Gambia in any African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) trademark application under the Protocol. The ARIPO trademark application is a regional filing system through which a single application can be used to file trademark and designate countries in which the applicant seeks to cover but the designated countries must be under ARIPO and must have ratified the Banjul Protocol.
The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) is an inter-governmental organization (IGO) that facilitates cooperation among member states in intellectual property matters. ARIPO grants and administers Intellectual Property (IP) titles on behalf of its Member States and provides IP information in the form of search services, publications, and awareness creation. ARIPO applies to mainly English-speaking African countries.
Other members of the Organization are Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
