The African Intellectual Property Organization, or OAPI for short, is an Industrial Property Office headquartered in Yaoundé, Cameroon, that oversees intellectual property for the majority of French-speaking African countries.
Working languages: French and English
OAPI's current 17 member states are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Comoro, Ivoiry Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Congo Republic.
OAPI Missions
- Manage the issue of industrial property titles.
- Contribute to the promotion of the protection of literary and artistic works.
- Provision of documentation and dissemination of information.
- Intellectual property training through Denis EKANI Academy.
The Expansion of OAPI’s Mission
- Arbitration and mediation as an alternative means of settling intellectual property disputes.
- OAPI has to promote economic development via the promotion of innovation and creativity and protection of geographical indications (GI).
Protection System
- The Bangui Agreement is OAPI's uniform legislation that creates a uniform system of intellectual property rights, protection with a common administrative procedure.
- Applicants are protected throughout all 17 OAPI member states with a single application.
- A single title would be issued to national intellectual property rights in each member country as a result of the centralization of procedures. So individual member states designation are neither required nor possible in the OAPI region.
- Each Member State is in charge of copyright management; in this regard, the Bangui Accord set a minimal normative framework.
- Procedure for Registration using OAPI
OAPI will perform an examination with regard to the formal aspects and substance aspects of the application for trademarks, industrial designs, trade names, and geographical indications.
- COST AND BENEFIT OF USING OAPI
- One application
- One taxes
- For 17 countries
- Reduction of trademark taxes from 780 Dollars to 619,5 dollars
- As we previously mention we have a regional system not a domestic system
- Type of IPs that can be Registered
- Patents
- Trademark
- Utility models
- Industrial designs
- Trade names
- Geographical indications
- Plant varieties
Criteria for registering with OAPI
To file an application, applicants must provide:
- A filed up application form
- Provide proof of payment
- Priority document if applicable
- Unstamped POA for foreigner’s applicants.
Litigation
- The settlement of disputes before the OAPI is planned after the publication of the application for title to oppose said application or claim ownership.
- OAPI will now publish the application demand of trademarks and industrial designs for three months in order to allow any third party the opportunity to object to the registration before it is published and registered.
- Nonetheless, the application for a patent or utility model remain challenged since any third party who wishes to object has six months to do so after the publication of the registration ; after this time, the patent or utility model will be completely protected across the 17 member states.
- Disputes, on the other hand, can be resolved through arbitration or mediation.
- Final judicial decisions on the validity of titles rendered in a one-member state are binding on all other member states. Other judgments are enforceable in accordance with each state's statute.
- The applicant has the possibility, when an OAPI decision is not favourable to him, to refer the matter to the OAPI Superior Appeals Committee to have his case re-examined.
- Increased penalties for counterfeiting.
Good to Know
- The official list of OAPI representatives can be found on their website: www.oapi.int
- The Bangui Agreement was updated in December 2015 and comes into force on January 3, 2022, for trademarks, industrial designs, trade names, geographical indications, unfair competition, and literary and artistic property. For more information, get in touch with us at www.cabinet-tf.com
Authors : Mr Martin FOUDA, Founder Cabinet T&F; and Armelle TALA FOUDA, Managing Partner Cabinet T&F
Interpreter: Jimmy Yang, IP Attorney at Pingo Law Firm
Edited on December 18,2022