Background
African Intellectual Property Organization, commonly branded by its French
acronym (OAPI) is the creation of Bangui agreement, done at Bangui, Republic
of Central Africa on March 2, 1977. The Bangui Agreement was revised in
February 24, 1999 in response to the establishment of the World Trade Organization
(WTO) and the signing of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS).Its headquarters are at Yaoundé, Cameroon. OAPI is
composed of 16 (sixteen) west and Central African countries. They are French-speaking
countries, (Francophone Africa) or strictly speaking former French colonies.
The member states are: Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic,
Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger,
Senegal, Chad, Togo and Equatoria Guinea. The OAPI territory has about 100
million inhabitants.
OAPI member states have acceded to a number of international conventions
with respect to the protection of intellectual property, including the Paris
Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the Berne Convention, the
Hague Agreement concerning the international deposit of Industrial Designs,
the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization,
the Marrakech Agreement establishing World Trade Organization, including
the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of intellectual property right known
as TRIPS.
OAPI is an organization in charge of implementing normal administrative
procedure, resulting from a uniform system for the protection of intellectual
property rights, in light of international conventions, member states of
the organization have acceded to. The intention of the Bangui agreement
union is to set up a uniform system for the protection of intellectual property
rights. A system for a single deposit of applications for patents, registration
of industrial designs, utility models, trademarks, service marks, trade
names, geographical indications, integrated circuits, plant varieties and
microorganisms. The states of the union also strive to create a common system
of protection against unfair completion. They strive to attain the role
of intellectual property in achieving the aim of technological development.
The creation of OAPI is in line with the Paris Convention, which provides
in pertinent part, that countries of the Union may make separate agreements
between them for the protection of intellectual property, to the effect
of maintaining a filing system equivalent to a regular national filing system
conducive to bestow a claim for priority rights. Accordingly, any filing
of an international patent application that includes the designation of
at least one member state shall be equivalent to a national filing in each
member state that is also a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
Decisions taken by the Organization on matters involving rejection of application,
maintenance or extension of time, requests for reinstatement, and decisions
on opposition shall be subject to appeal to the High Commission of Appeal
of the said Organization which is composed of three members. Legal questions
pertaining to infringement and similar intellectual property matters which
require litigation are settled by the domestic courts of each state.
Choice of Office
Applications shall be filed directly with the Organization. If an applicant
is domiciled in a member state, the application may be filed with the national
office of that state, provided however, that the application shall be transmitted
to the Organization within five working days from the date of filing. Applicants
domiciled outside the territory of the member states must be represented
by an intellectual property attorney or agent.
OAPI Patent Registration Formal
filing requirements for non-PCT Patent applications are as follows:
Request form signed by the applicant or his agent containing the complete
address, the domicile and nationality of the applicant.
Power of attorney simply signed.
Five copies of the specification, claims and abstract.
Five copies of the formal drawings.
Designation of the countries in which the patent wishes the patent
to be protected.
Certified copy of the basic application if priority is to be claimed.
This document is required within a six month period.
Formal requirements for International Patent Applications (PCT) are
as follows:
Power of attorney simply signed. {Must be lodged on filing day or
within two months from the filing date of the application.}
Three copies of the specification, claims, and abstract in French
or English. {Required on the day of filing.}
Three copies of the formal drawings if any. {Required on the day
of filing.)
International patent classification. (Required on the day of filing.)
Assignment of the invention. (Can be later filed, no set deadline.)
Copy of PCT international advertisement. (Required on the day of
filing.)
Copy of the International Search Report. (Can be later filed, not
set deadline.)
Copy of the International Preliminary Report. (Can be later filed,
no set deadline.
Note: Applications based on International Search article
22, chapter 1 of the PCT enters into OAPI national phase within twenty (20)
months from the date of the priority claim. However, those based on an International
Preliminary Examination article 39, chapter 11 of PCT shall enter in OPAI
national phase within 30 months from the date of the priority claim.
Examination
Substantive examination is conducted on the basis of a search report obtained
from the European Patent Office.
Granting patents
The patent certificate is granted as soon as all administrative requirements
have been satisfied, as well as, all the required fees are paid. Nonetheless,
at the request of the applicant, the Organization may adjourn the granting
of a patent for a period not exceeding twelve (12) months from the date
of the application. However, those who benefited from the delay as provided
for under the Paris Convention or other international convention to which
OAPI member states have acceded would not be in a position to benefit from
the right of adjournment.
Duration and renewal
The Bangui Agreement expressly provides that patent validity shall extend
for a basic period of ten years from the date of filing, subject to payment
of renewal fees annually, commencing from the date of filing. The ten years
period is extendable by two additional periods of five years subject to
providing proof to show that the invention has actually been employed in
any member state.
Compulsory license
In the event a patent invention has not been worked in for a period of three
years from the granting date, a compulsory license may be granted on condition
of providing cogent evidence to sustain the allegation.
OAPI Industrial Design Registration Formal filing requirements are as follows:
A request form signed by the applicant or his agent containing the
complete address, the domicile and nationality of the applicant.
The name and address of the author of the design or model.
Five copies of the design representation.
Five sets of the formal drawings if any.
The precise description of the product into which the design or model
is intended to be incorporated.
The classes of the products
The date, number and country of previous registration, in the event,
a priority is claimed.
Note: A file can encompass 100 (one hundred) designs or
models numbered from first to the last. To take advantage from a priority,
the latest date of filing at OAPI Office has to be six months after the
earlier filing by another office. The priority right relating to prior registration
have to be claimed during the application of an industrial design or model
registration, and if this is not feasible during the following three months.
The priority document has to be translated into French or into English if
the original document is written in another language.
Granting Industrial designs
A period about 7 months from the date of filing is needed to consummate
the process to secure an industrial design grant or a model registration.
Irregularities
The OAPI Office will request an applicant to rectify any irregularity within
a period of three months; however one month may be added on request.
Duration and renewal
Five years from the filing date of the application. Renewals are available
for two successive extensions of 5 years subject to payment of renewal fees.
OAPI Trademark Registration Formal filing requirements are as follows:
15 prints of the trademark. A graphic representation of the trademark
is required if it is a logo, device etc.
A complete list of the goods or services in respect of which registration
of the mark is requested. (Required at the date of filing.)
A copy of the basic application if priority is claimed under the
Paris Convention. If the priority document is in a language other than
English or French, the duly certified document must be presented.
Name and address of the applicant including his nationality, his
domicile and the address of his place of business. Required at the date
of filing.)
If the applicant is a legal entity, a duly certified copy of the
certificate of incorporation or an extract from the commercial register
is required.
A power of attorney simply signed.
Registration Duration
10 years period from the date of filing and may be renewed for further periods
subject to payment of renewal fees.
Renewal (a) A power of attorney simply signed (b) Prints of the trademark as originally registered. (c) The number and date of initial registration. (d) Evidence of use may be required.
Assignment (a) A power of attorney simply signed. (b) A duly authenticated deed of assignment
Business licensing contracts (a) A power of attorney simply signed (b) A duly authenticated licensing contract.
Change of name and/or address (a) A power of attorney simply signed. (b) A certified copy of change requested.
