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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN OAPI

Algeria Flag

Opposition Term

180 Days

Registration Term

10 Years

First Renewal Term

10 Years

Subsequent Renewal Term

10 Years

  • The Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) is one of the two main organizations in Africa governing centralized trademark applications.

  • A trademark registered with OAPI grants protection in all its 17 member states, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire), Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

  • The OAPI member states don't have their national trademark offices. A single trademark application filed with OAPI grants protection in all the 17 member states.

  • The organization is also a member of the Madrid Protocol; thus, the extension of international registration of a trademark via the Madrid System is possible for every member state.

  • Multi-class trademark applications are allowed; however, separate trademark applications are required to be filed for goods and services.

  • The 11th edition of Nice Classification is accepted by concerned trademark authority.

  • The interested third parties may file opposition actions against a trademark application within six (06) months following its publication date in the Official Gazette.

  • Registered trademarks in OAPI have a validity of ten (10) years from the date of application, which can be further renewed indefinitely for periods of ten (10) years.

  • The Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) is one of the two main IP organizations in Africa with 17 member states, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire), Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

  • OAPI deals with patents under the Bangui Agreement. The OAPI member states don't have their national patent offices. A single patent application filed with OAPI grants protection in all the 17 member states.

  • OAPI is a member of the Paris Convention and Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

  • Process Patent and Product Patent are the two types of patents that can be protected in OAPI.

  • In OAPI, any invention that satisfies the conditions of novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability, subjects to patentability.

  • The types of patent applications in OAPI include Convention Application, PCT National Phase Application, and Patent of Addition.

  • Utility Model Protection is not available under the patent law.

  • The time-period for the PCT National Phase Filing is thirty (30) months.

  • Opposition against a patent application can't be raised in OAPI.

  • The patent of invention lasts for twenty (20) years in OAPI.

  • The time frame for payment of Annuities before the due date is three (03) months.

  • The Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) is one of the two main IP organizations in Africa with 17 member states, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire), Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

  • OAPI is a member of the Paris Convention and Hague Agreement. Industrial design protection in OAPI can be obtained either by filing an OAPI application or an international application under the Hague, designating OAPI.

  • The OAPI member states don't have their national industrial design offices. A single industrial design application filed with OAPI grants protection in all the 17 member states.

  • The types of industrial design applications in OAPI include only the Convention Application.

  • Utility model protection isn't provided under industrial design protection in OAPI.

  • Opposition against an industrial design application can't be raised in OAPI.

  • The total duration of an industrial design registration is fifteen (15) years from the date of application. The initial term of registration is five (05) years, which is further extendible for two terms of (05) five years each upon payment of the renewal fee.

  • There is a grace period of six (06) months to renew an industrial design in OAPI.

  • The Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) is one of the two main IP organizations (ARIPO being the second one) in Africa with seventeen (17) member states, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire), Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

  • Although copyright protection is governed by Annex VII of the Bangui Accord, the administration and enforcement of copyright are the responsibility of the municipal authorities under the local laws of the OAPI member countries. These laws also provide for copyright registration. Some member countries have retained their copyright laws or enacted new copyright laws.

  • All members of OAPI are members of the Berne Convention.

  • The economic rights in a work are protected during the lifetime of the author and for fifty (50) years after his death.