OAPI Trademark Registration

The African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI) is an union organized by former French colonies for the protection of intellectual property rights. It comprises of 17 member states and a trademark upon registration will be protected in all member states of OAPI.

Member States of OAPI Trademark

Benin	Burkina Faso	Cameroon	Central African Republic
Chad	Comoros	Congo	Equatorial Guinea
Gabon	Guinea	Guinea-Bissau	Ivory Coast
Mali	Mauritania	Niger	Senegal
Togo

Required Information and Documents

Corporation Applicant: Business Registration Certificate / Certificate of Incorporation
Individual Applicant: Identity documents and address proof
Application form
Trademark image
Power of Attorney

Trademark Registration Flow

Trademark Search
Initial Application
Substantive Examination
Publication
Issuance of Certificate

Preliminary Trademark Search

The Preliminary trademark search shall be conducted to avoid legal complications in the future. The point of a trademark search is to ensure that the trademark is not already under application or registered by another entity in order to reduce the possibilities of the rejection or opposition raised.

Duration of Application

10-14 months

Validity Period

The registration is valid for 10 years.

Renewal

Renewal application for 10 years may be submitted within 12 months before the expiry date.

Note: The member states of OAPI do not include such African countries as South Africa and Tunisia. If you would like to have a wider protection of your trademark in the African markets, we suggest you filing applications in those key African countries on a case-by-case basis in addition to OAPI trademark registration.

Trademark Registration