OAPI Trademark Manual

OAPI trademarks are easily filed online through the GlobalIPCo online filing system.

Rights

An OAPI trademark registration prevents others from using a brand name / logo / slogan which is the same as, or confusingly similar to your trademark registration in the following OAPI member States:

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.  

Unlike an ARIPO trademark, where individual member States may be selected, an OAPI trademark automatically covers all member States.

Search

There is no free public database available for conducting OAPI trademark searches. However, a trademark search can be requested at a reasonable cost (about €225 for the first class and €26 for each additional class).

Filing an OAPI trademark through GlobalIPCo

• Register on GlobalIPCo.com (there is no subscription / license fee. You are only charged for actions instructed);

• Receive a discount code that reduces pricing for law firms and add this to your profile; and

• Complete the OAPI trademark application form:

Note: OAPI trademark applications must be filed in English / French.

Mark / Logo page

• Your reference: This is the reference used within your business to identify the trademark application.

• Type of mark:

Word mark

• Word mark: Type the word/s of the trademark, e.g. GLOBAL IP CO.

Logo/image mark

• Words appearing in the logo/image: Type all the words and/or numbers appearing in the image. If there are no words/numbers, leave blank.

• Foreign language: If the word mark or logo includes non-English/French text (and/or text not in the Latin alphabet), see the endorsement section below.

• Upload your image and resize the image to fit in the central block:

Example:

Click Save logo/image and review the saved image:

Where the trademark application is for a logo, a “description of the mark” must be added.

• Endorsements:

Transliteration:

If the mark includes non-Latin characters, for example “Technik school 北京”, rewrite the entire mark in Latin characters, i.e. “Technik school Beijing”

Endorsement that will be submitted: The transliteration of the mark is “Technik school Beijing”.

Note: Transliteration is a conversion of text from one alphabet (e.g. Chinese characters) to another alphabet (e.g. Latin / Roman alphabet). Translation is the conversion of a word in a foreign language (e.g. Chinese pinyin) into English/French where both words are in the same alphabet.

Translation / No meaning statement:

If the mark has non-English/French words, indicate whether the non-English/French words have meaning in English/French. If yes, provide the English/French translation of the entire mark. For example, “Technik school 北京” should be translated to “Technology school Beijing”.

Endorsement that will be submitted: The translation of the mark is “Technology school Beijing”.

Disclaimers:

Disclaim words that are commonly used in the trade associated with the class(es) in which the mark is to be filed. For example, for the mark “Irresistible Fruit” in class 29, consider disclaiming “fruit”.

Endorsement that will be submitted: Registration of this trademark shall grant no right to the exclusive use of “fruit” separately and apart from the mark.

Note: The OAPI TMO does not issue office actions relating to association of trademark applications.

Parties page

• Applicant: The applicant may be a natural person, a juristic person (e.g. a company) or a trust. Insert the applicant’s physical (not postal) address. When inserting the address, use consecutive rows and do not strictly follow the prompts in the rows (e.g. the Zip code may be entered in the third address row).

Although, OAPI permits co-ownership of trademarks. Apart from charging an additional Euro 199 to claim co-ownership, the OAPI TMO also requires the applicants to submit a co-ownership agreement. Due to the complexity of co-ownership agreements, the GlobalIPCo system does not file OAPI trademarks that cite more than one applicant.

Priority page

• Priority: Priority may be claimed from trademark applications filed no more than 6 months earlier. To request priority, a copy of the priority application may be uploaded at the time of filing. If the priority application is not in English/French, the English/French translation (with translator’s notice confirming that the translation is “true and correct”) should be added at the end of the priority application (as a single pdf file).

A certified copy (hard copy) of the priority document (with translation, if applicable) must be couriered to our agent for submission to the OAPI Trademarks Office (TMO) within 3 months of filing. Our agent’s courier address is:

3rd Floor Ndema Mpako Bldg,

Opposite Omnisports Stadium

Douala-CAMEROON

Tel: +237 675991605/696306162

Contact person: Arielle MPECK

Email: arielle@ampeckandpartners.com

This 3 month period cannot be extended and failure to lodge a copy with the OAPI TMO will result in the priority claim being deemed abandoned.

Notes:

• A multi-class OAPI trademark application may claim more than one priority (with different priority dates).
• If the OAPI trademark applicant is different to the priority trademark applicant, a cession of priority rights agreement must be submitted to the OAPI TMO.
• If the same mark claims priority in a few classes and does not claim priority in other classes, two OAPI trademark applications must be filed – one OAPI trademark application for the classes that claim priority and a second OAPI trademark application for the other class(es) that do not claim priority.

Class page

• Select class(es): OAPI permits multi-class trademarks. A single OAPI trademark will be filed, covering all the classes selected. 

Trademark protection is limited to the goods/services within the selected class/es. If the incorrect class is selected, the trademark may not be enforced.

OAPI uses the 12th Edition (12-2023), of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services.

The description of Goods / Services within a class should be edited. Select the appropriate goods / services. You may also substitute the Goods / Services with your own Goods / Services. Do not select include all the goods / services in the class, as doing so will likely result to an office action being issued.

Forms page

• Forms: Download the Power of Attorney for signature. A colour scanned copy of the simply signed / stamped Power of Attorney must be uploaded to the system. The original signed Power of Attorney should also be couriered to our agent (see the courier address under the priority section).

The OAPI TMO may issue an Official Notice requiring the original Power of Attorney to be submitted, in which event the original Power of Attorney must be submitted within 3 months of the date of the notice (extendable by a further 30 days, if applied for before expiry of the 3 month period).

Note: No legalization or notarisation of the Power of Attorney is required. Unfortunately, the OAPI trademark legislation still requires original signed Power of Attorney form to be lodged with the OAPI TMO.

Uploads page

• Upload: Upload the signed Power of Attorney; the priority document (if priority is claimed); and an English / French translation of the priority document (with translator’s notice) (if the priority document is not in English / French).

Payment page

• File / pay: Pay by credit card to complete the filing. The costs are:

Note: The filing fee covers filing, publication and issuance of the registration certificate.

If an office action is issued, the charge for a routine response (i.e. submitting outstanding documents or adding a disclaimer) is €65 (irrespective of the number of classes). Office actions should be responded to within 3 months of issuance. This deadline may be extended by 30 days if the request for extension is submitted before expiry of the 3-month deadline. The cost to request a 30-day extension is €65.

An office action that requires a change on the register incurs an additional official fee (that depends on whether the change is made before or after first publication). Examples of such office actions include: translation of the mark, correcting the applicant’s name.

Additional costs will be incurred if the trademark is objected to on the basis of a lack of distinctiveness / the trademark being descriptive, or if the trademark is opposed, which is quoted on a case-by-case basis.

Note: OAPI trademarks cannot be paid using a “user account”.

Process

The OAPI trademarks office examines trademarks to ensure that they meet the formal and substantive requirements. After publication, the trademark application lies open to opposition for 3 months.

Should registration of the trademark application be opposed, we will send you the notice of opposition and put you in touch with our filing agent. You may choose either to retain our filing agent to deal with the opposition or to engage another OAPI trademark attorney. Should you succeed in defending against the opposition, you will be able to complete the trademark registration process on the system.

Upon receipt of the registration certificate, a scanned copy will be emailed to you. Optionally, you could request courier of the certificate.

Timelines:

Renewal

An OAPI trademark is renewed on each 10^th anniversary of the OAPI trademark filing date.

Renewals may only be paid up to 6 months prior to the due date (and up to 6 months after the due date, subject to a late-payment penalty).

Late-payment:

Renewals may be paid during the 6 month grace period on payment of a penalty of €310 (irrespective of the number of classes).

Non-use

An OAPI trademark may be susceptible to being revoked if not used for 5 consecutive years prior to the date of bringing the application.

How to respond to an office action

• Click INSTRUCT RESPONSE

• Click SAVE AND INSTRUCT RESPONSE to go through to payment

How to request courier

• Click REQUEST COURIER

• Click GROUP OTHERS WITH THIS CERTIFICATE

• Select other case to be grouped in the courier parcel

• Add other cases until the parcel includes 10 OAPI trademark certificates (i.e. the original case plus the 9 added cases)

• Click SAVE to courier all 10 certificates in a single courier parcel

• Complete the Contact Details and Address sections and click REQUEST COURIER