SEARCH
The Afr IP case-law database search function is available in the Home page of the portal. Several search criteria are available in the main search area for you to choose from. These include seven predefined criteria and three additional groups of keywords that can help you refine your search.
PRE-DEFINED SEARCH CRITERIA
The search engine offers you seven predefined search criteria. These are: decision date, type of decision, decision number, parties, jurisdiction, authority and type of IP right.
Decision date: you can filter your search by date range using the arrows in the calendar to navigate through the months and years.
Type of decision: you can choose one or more decision types from the drop down menu.
Decision number: free text field where you can enter either the whole or part of the decision number that you are looking for.
Parties: free text field where you can enter either name of parties fully or partially (minimum three characters).
Jurisdiction: choose the jurisdiction you are interested in from the drop down menu.
Authority: free text field where you can enter either name of the country´s authoruty fully or partially (minimum three characters).
Type of IP right: you can choose the type of IP right you are interested in from the drop down menu.
When trademark, design, patent, copyright, geographical indication or plan variety are selected, a set of keywords will be displayed with sub-criteria specific to the chosen IP right. One or more sub-criteria can be selected from the respective drop down menu. When changing the selection of one IP right to another, the set of associated keywords will change automatically.
ADDITIONAL SETS OF KEYWORDS
Three sets of additional keywords, related to general legal concepts, infringement & customs, and the Internet, respectively, are available for you to choose and further refine your search. You can choose one or more of these keywords at a time.
Please note these additional sets of keywords are not conditioned by any other search criteria and can be selected at any time independently or in conjunction with other search criteria.
LIST OF RESULTS
As a result of your search you will obtain a list with the following fields:
- Jurisdiction
- Decision number (by pressing on a decision number you will be redirected to the details screen of the corresponding case)
- Decision date
- Parties
- Type of IP right
- Type of decision
- Case/Summary
By default, the list of results is ordered by decision date (ascending). You can click on any column header apart from “Type of IPR” to sort your results by another field in ascending or descending order.
The order of the columns may be changed by dragging the column heading to the desired place.
While the number of results displayed per page is set up on 25 as default, you can change this setting by selecting the number of results per page from the pre-defined list “Items per page”.
In the pager bar at the top of the results area, the total number of results is displayed for your reference.
To access the details related to a case, click on the “Decision number” and you will be redirected to a details screen where you will find all relevant information related to such case. To access the case or a summary in English of the decision, click on the corresponding PDF icon under column “Case/Summary”.
You can print the list of results by pressing on the print icon.
DETAILS SCREEN
The details screen will display all information and documents related to a specific case.
The fields on display are the following:
- Decision number
- Decision date
- IPR Type
- Jurisdiction
- Authority
- Parties
- Type of decision
- Legal basis
- Case/Summary
- Associated Keywords
