Innovations Trademark Registration Before (OAPI)

The African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) is an intergovernmental institution which handles trademark registration in 17 member states: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Comoro Islands, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

The African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) was created in March 1977 by the Bangui Agreement with the main goal of simplifying and encouraging the protection of Intellectual Property rights, promote the development industrial property rights within member states.

The 1977 Bangui Agreement was amended in February 1999 and subsequently at Bamako in December 2015. It is worth mentioning that the new Bamako Agreement governing trademark registration before OAPI became applicable as from January 1^st, 2022.