ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the historical development of the PAIPO Statute and compares the 2012 and 2013 drafts with the final statute (adopted in 2016) to demonstrate how it evolved. It considers final statute’s provisions on PAIPO legal status, its objectives, principles and functions together with its organs and their functions. It also debates the organisational coordination between PAIPO, ARIPO and OAPI. Finally, it evaluates the policy orientation of PAIPO as deciphered from the text of the statute to ascertain the extent to which it accords with the vision for IP on the continent articulated in other AU instruments.
