ARTICLE · 28 JUNE 2019

Patents: ARIPO Or OAPI…What Is The Difference?

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Filing patents in Africa is often perceived as a minefield of different regional and national laws, whilst it is in fact relatively simple.

South AfricaIntellectual Property

Annelise Engelbreg

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Filing patents in Africa is often perceived as a minefield of different regional and national laws, whilst it is in fact relatively simple. There are two regional patent offices, covering different territories in Africa, and in most other countries patent protection is regulated by their respective national patent laws.

The two regional patent offices are ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization) and OAPI (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle), and the main differences are set out below.

	ARIPO (18 countries)	OAPI (17 countries)
Patent Law & Regulation	ARIPO is mandated to grant patents on behalf of the Harare Protocol Contracting States in accordance with the provisions of the Harare Protocol on Patents, Designs and Utility Models.

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