(Publ. 15 DEC 2014) On December 5th, 2014, the African Intellectual Property Organization, OAPI, joined the Madrid Protocol. There are 17 countries included in OAPI, namely:

Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Republic of Congo
Ivory Coast
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Senegal
Togo
Comoro Islands

The Madrid Protocol will enter into force, with respect to OAPI, on March 5th, 2015.

OAPI has not, however, amended its law to give effect to International registrations, and there are no indications that it intends to do so. Without such amendment concerning International registrations, designating OAPI will most likely not be enforceable.

The Madrid system (Madrid Protocol) for the international registration of marks is the primary international system for facilitating the registration of trademarks in multiple jurisdictions around the world. Today, there are 91 members including the EU. The advantage with this system is that it is possible to apply for trademark protection through one administrative process which is also more cost-effective.

If you have any questions on trademark protection you are welcome to contact our consultants at the Law and Trademark Dept., +46 8 729 91 00.