CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
COUNTRY : CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
CAPITAL : BANGUI
LANGUAGE : FRENCH / SANGO
Trademark is managed and granted to all OAPI countries by Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle.
International Treaties to which Central African Republic – OAPI is signatory:
- Paris Convention for the protection of industrial property
- Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights –TRIPS.
- NICE Classification of Goods & Services
- Madrid Protocol for international trademark protection.
- Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle – OAPI
- Berne Convention.
PROTECTION OF TRADEMARKS IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC:
- OAPI Office – Direct Filing with OAPI Trademark Office
- International Registration – Through Madrid System.
Therefore, to obtain protection in Central African Republic, there are two options from which the applicant can choose.
Please refer our Treaties section on International protection under Madrid System and Community Trademark Registration.
Filing of Trademarks in Central African Republic – OAPI The African Intellectual Property Organisation known commonly by it’s French Acronym (OAPI) was established through the Bangui Agreement at the Republic of Central Africa and is head quartered at Yaounde, Cameroon.
OAPI came to be constituted through the Bangui Agreement and is a comity of 16 Former French Colonies which are also French speaking Countries – Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad, Togo, Equatorial Guinea.
The Bangui Agreement deals with the following inttelictual Property matters relating to member countries: Patents, Utility Models, Trademarks, Industrial Designs, Trade Names, Geographical Indications, Copyrights, Unfair Competition, Integrated Circuit Layouts and Plant Variety Rights
Member Nations of the OAPI have retained significant portions of the legal systems of the countries that colonised them, however, legal questions regarding infringement and IP matters requiring litigation are to be settled by domestic courts of each state.
Member nations recognise the provisions entrenched in the Bangui Agreement and its annexes as their national law. Hence, OAPI allows applicants to receive Trademarks protection in all of the 16 jurisdictions with a single application and registration. Therefore, Registration in individual member nations, is no longer possible.
INDIVIDUAL MARKS, COLLECTIVE MARKS, WELL-KNOWN MARKS UNDER OAPI:
Individual marks:
Individual marks differentiate products or services offered by one undertaking from those of other companies or competitors.
Collective marks:
Collective marks have to comply with the conditions of use laid down by regulation approved by the competent authority. Its legal regime is significantly different from that of the individual mark. Persons entitled to benefit from the collective marks are, unions, groups of producers, industrial, artisans or merchants.
Well-known marks:
When a brand, be it individual or collective, acquires a certain reputation it will becomes well known and enjoys a special regime of protection.
The mark may be considered well known, once it is known to a large fraction of the public. So it is not that the mark is known to a public specialized in a particular trade or industry, for example in a professional circle. Most often it will be required that the mark is known of a large part of the public, i.e. the whole of the population. Moreover, the reputation must be found in the country where protection is sought. No doubt, is it not necessary that the mark is used in the country, but it is necessary that it be known.
Unlike ordinary marks, the well-known mark is not required to be a repository for legal protection. The assessment of the reputation is the sovereign power of the judge.
THE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS IN OAPI:
Following are the judicial proceedings that take place at OAPI:
- The action for revocation
- The strike action
- The action for unfair competition
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Kinds of Trademarks registrable in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Requisites for a Trademark to be registrable in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Kinds of Trademarks not registrable in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Trademark Search in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Trademark Filing in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Trademark Examination in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Trademark Publication & Opposition in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Trademark Registration in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Trademark Usage in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI
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Trademark Cost of Registration in CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – OAPI