12 Act No. 1, 2012 Government Gazette 23 March 2012 No. 4907 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ACT, 2012 “convention country” means a state or territory which is a party to the Paris Convention; “court” means the High Court of Namibia as defined in section 1 of the High Court Act, 1990 (Act No. 16 of 1990); “Harare Protocol” means the Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs within the Framework of ARIPO adopted in Harare on December 10, 1982 and the Regulations issued thereunder, as amended from time to time; “industrial property” means patents, utility model certificates, industrial designs, and trade marks including certification trade marks and collective trade marks; “Minister” means the Minister responsible for trade and industry; “Office” means the Industrial Property Office established by section 2; “official” means the Registrar, the Deputy Registrar, any assistant registrar, any staff member or other employee of the Office appointed in terms of section 4; “Paris Convention” means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property concluded in Paris on March 20, 1883 as revised from time to time; “patent” means the title granted under this Act to protect an invention; “person” means a natural person or a legal person and includes an enterprise or other business entity; “prescribe” means prescribe by regulation made under section 236; “priority date” means the date of the earlier application or applications that serves or serve as the basis for the right of priority provided for in the Paris Convention and claimed in a convention application; “record” means the entering or recordal of information in the appropriate register as contemplated in section 7(3); “register” or “registers” means the registers referred to in section 7(1); “Registrar” means the person appointed as Registrar in terms of section 4; “staff member” means a person defined as such in section 1 of the Public Service Act, 1995 (Act No. 13 of 1995); “this Act” includes the regulations made under section 236; “Tribunal” means the Industrial Property Tribunal established by section 215; “TRIPS” means the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property which is annexed to the Agreement Establishing the WTO; and