The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), formerly African Regional Industrial Property Organization, is an intergovernmental organization for cooperation between African States in matters of patents and intellectual property. Its competence is to register all trademarks and patents in order to extend its protection to all Member States. Its 22 member states are mostly English-speaking countries. Membership of the organization is open to all Member States of the African Union (AU) or of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

ARIPO facilitates cooperation among Member States in intellectual property matters, with the objective of pooling financial and human resources and seeking technological advancement for economic, social, technological, scientific and industrial development; thereby, fostering creativity and innovation for socio-economic growth of our Member States through an effective intellectual property system.

ARIPO was established by the Lusaka Agreement of 1976. It has the capacity to hear applications for patents and registered trademarks in its member states who are parties to the Harare (patents), Banjul (marks) and Arusha (plant varieties) protocols. ARIPO grants and administers Intellectual Property (IP) titles on behalf of its Member States and provides IP information to its clientele in the form of search services, publications and awareness creation.

The present members of the Organization are Botswana, Cape Verde, Kingdom of Eswatini, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The ARIPO Secretariat is based in Harare, Zimbabwe.

According to Wikipedia & aripo.org