BENIN – OAIP

COUNTRY : REPUBLIC OF BENIN

CAPITAL : PORTO NOVO

LANGUAGE : FRENCH

 

 

Filing of Plant Variety Application in Benin – 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.

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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