OAPI
Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle
African Intellectual Property Office
Lysaght offers a complete IP service in this jurisdiction, assisting clients in the registration, renewal, recordal and enforcement of their IP rights.
OAPI currently comprises 17 (seventeen) member States, being Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoro Islands, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
OAPI offers a centralised registration system for its 17 member countries. Registration of an IP right at OAPI automatically covers all of the territories that were member States at the time of filing the application for registration, with any territories joining OAPI after filing being included on renewal. It is not possible to designate a restricted number of member States.
Our Jersey office has had an exclusive association with Ekeme Lysaght SARL in Cameroon for over 40 years, and this association has enabled us to build up a substantial OAPI practice as well as close links with OAPI itself. We are a leading practitioner in this area and play an active role in encouraging the OAPI Registry to improve its efficiencies, and provide foreign proprietors with the protection that they require. OAPI is one of our key areas of specialisation, and we welcome clients to enjoy the comprehensive and reliable registration, recordal and renewal service which we offer in this area.
trade mark information
Types of Trade Mark
Substantive, with or without priority claims. Certification mark.
Classification
Multi-class; Nice Classification.
International Arrangements
Paris Convention priority can be claimed.
Renewal
10 years from filing date, and every 10 years thereafter; 6-month grace period available on payment of late fine.
Use Provisions
Non-use of trade mark for a period of 5 years from registration renders it vulnerable to an action for cancellation by third parties.
Patent information
Substantive, with or without priority claims;
PCT regional phase.
Types of Patent
20 years from effective filing date.
International Arrangements
Duration
Paris Convention priority can be claimed.
Renewal
Renewals payable annually, on each anniversary of the effective filing date; 6-month grace period available on payment of late fine.
design information
Types of Design
Substantive, with or without priority claims.
International Arrangements
Paris Convention priority can be claimed.
Duration
5 years from the filing date, extensible for further two 5-year periods.
Renewal
First renewal fee due on filing application, with additional fees due on 5th and 10th anniversaries of filing date; 6-month grace period available on payment of late fine.
latest OAPI articles
