OAPI

OAPI member countries have renounced their national IP laws since an OAPI registration will provide the patentee with a single title of protection valid in each OAPI member country. Designation of countries is not required as all 17 member countries are automatically included when an OAPI patent application is filed.

Patent matters are dealt with in Annex I of the Bangui Agreement. Patent applications must be filed at the OAPI office. Alternatively, member states may require that applicants domiciled in the territory of a member state must first file the application with the national administration of the member state. In that case, the application must be transmitted to OAPI by the national administration within a period of five days.

Since OAPI is a member of the PCT, patent protection may also be obtained by way of a PCT application.

Inventions that are new, involve an inventive step, and are industrially applicable are patentable. An invention may relate to a product or a process or to a use thereof. An invention shall be considered industrially applicable if it can be made or used in any industry including handicraft, agriculture, fishery and services.

Patents shall not be granted for the following:

• inventions the exploitation of which is contrary to public policy or morality (provided that the exploitation of the invention shall not be considered contrary to public policy or morality merely because it is prohibited by law)
• discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods
• inventions having as their subject matter plant varieties, animal species and essentially biological processes for the breeding of plants or animals other than microbiological processes and the products of such processes
• schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts or playing games
• methods for the treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, including diagnostic methods
• mere presentations of information
• computer programs
• works of an exclusively ornamental nature
• literary, architectural and artistic works or any other aesthetic creation.

An invention is new if it is not anticipated by prior art. Everything made available to the public anywhere in the world by means of written disclosure (including drawings and illustrations) or by use or exhibition is considered prior art, if it was so made available before the filing date of the OAPI application or the priority date.

A 12- month grace period is provided if disclosure was at an official or an officially recognized international exhibition or if the disclosure came from an obvious violation committed against the applicant or predecessor of applicant.

An application is subjected to formal examination only. OAPI examines the application to ensure that the formal requirements have been met. A notification will be issued if it is found that there are any irregularities. The applicant has a period of three months to respond and/or rectify any irregularities. If no response is filed and the irregularity is not rectified within the three-month period, the application will be rejected.

The duration of an OAPI patent is 20 years from the filing date.

Maintenance fees are payable annually on pending applications and granted patents. Maintenance fees are calculated from the OAPI filing date for convention and non-convention applications, and from the international filing date for PCT regional phase applications. There is a six month grace period for payment of maintenance fees.

A patentee who does not pay the maintenance fee on the anniversary date of the filing (or within the grace period) shall forfeit all his rights, i.e. the patent shall lapse.

The following literary and artistic works, if they are original creations of the mind in the literary, artistic and scientific fields, are eligible for copyright:

• Works expressed in writing, including computer programs
• Lectures, addresses, sermons and other works composed of words and expressed orally
• Musical works, whether or not accompanied by words
• Dramatic and dramatico-musical works
• Choreographic works and mimed works
• Audiovisual works
• Works of fine art such as drawings, paintings, sculptures, engravings and lithographs
• Works of architecture
• Photographic works
• Works of applied art
• Illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relating to geography, topography, architecture or science
• Traditional cultural expressions.

The following shall also be protected as works:

• Translations, adaptations, arrangements and other transformations of works and of expressions of folklore; and
• Collections of works, of expressions of folklore or of simple facts or data, such as encyclopaedias, anthologies and databases, whether reproduced on a medium that may be processed by a machine or in any other form, which, by reason of the selection, coordination or arrangement of their contents, constitute creations of the mind.

There is no provision in the Bangui Agreement for the registration of copyright.

General rule:  The term of copyright is for the lifetime of the author and for 50 years after his death.

Works of joint authorship: Lifetime of the last surviving author as well as for 50 years after death

Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works: 50 years from end of calendar year of year of its lawful publication for the first time or, failing such event occurring during the 50 years following the making of the work, 50 years as from the end of the calendar year in which such work was lawfully made accessible to the public or, failing such event occurring during the 50 years following the making of the work, 50 years from the end of the calendar year of its making.

Collective and audiovisual works: 50 years from end of calendar year of year of its lawful publication for the first time or, failing such event occurring during the period of 50 years as from the making of the work, 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which such work was made accessible to the public or, failing such event occurring during the period of 50 years as from the date of making of the work, 50 years as from the end of the calendar year of its making.

Applied art: 25 years as from the making of the work.

As indicated above, OAPI member countries  renounced their national IP laws. As such, an OAPI registration will provide a single design title of protection valid in each OAPI member country.

Design matters are dealt with in Annex IV of the Bangui Agreement. Design applications must be filed at the OAPI office or with the Ministry in a member state responsible for industrial property. In the latter case, the Ministry must transmit the application to the OAPI office within five days.

OAPI is a member of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs. As such, design protection in OAPI can be obtained either via an OAPI application or via an international application under the Hague, designating OAPI.

Any arrangement of lines or colours shall be considered a design, provided that the said arrangement gives a special appearance to an industrial product and may serve as a pattern for the manufacture of such product.

Industrial designs, the exploitation of which are contrary to public policy or morality, may not be registered. If the article to which the design is to be applied also constitutes an invention, protection must be obtained by way of a patent application or an application for a utility model.

Absolute novelty is required for a design to be registrable in OAPI. Adesign is new if it has not been disclosed anywhere in the world by publication in tangible form, or by use or by any other means. A grace period of 12 months is provided prior to the filing date or priority date, for disclosure of the design at an officially recognised international exhibition, or where the disclosure resulted from an obvious violation of the rights of the applicant or his predecessor.

An application is subjected to formal examination only.  OAPI examines the application to ensure that the formal requirements have been met. A notification will be issued if it is found that there are any irregularities. The applicant has a period of three months to respond and/or rectify any irregularities. If no response is filed and the irregularity is not rectified within the three month period, the application will be rejected.

The initial term of the design registration is five years, which is extendible upon payment of renewal fees for two consecutive further five year terms. If the renewal fee is not paid, the registration lapses. The term of the registration starts from the date of application for registration.

The renewal fee for an industrial design shall be paid within the 12 months preceding the expiration of the current period of registration. However, a 6-month period of grace shall be allowed for payment of the fee after such expiration, subject to payment of a surcharges.