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Coverage
The African Intellectual Property Organisation (AIPO), enables trademark protection in French speaking African former colonies through a single registration in: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. It is not possible to obtain national registrations in these countries.
Why register?
Only The first applicant is entitled to registration. A prior user may only object within six months and provided the first applicant was acting in bad faith. Thus, if you would use a mark without a registration you run a serious risk that a third party does register and subsequently forbids your use of the mark. Not only famous marks are subject to extortion! The costs of a registration do not normally outweigh the costs of a sudden change of the mark (if only in lost market share).
Savings
The savings by obtaining an AIPO registration compared to the previously required national registrations may well run into thousands of dollars.
Priority
Priority under the Paris Convention may be claimed. Some 90 per cent of the countries of the world have joined that Convention. Under the rules thereof, the date of the first application of a mark in one convention country may, during a period of six months, be claimed in any other as date of priority. This means that the second and further applications will be treated as if filed on the same date as the first application. Its intention is to prevent trademark piracy.
Classification
The International Classification has been adopted. An application may contain any number of classes upon payment of an additional fee for each class over the third.
Procedure
The Office examines applications as to form and inherent registrability. It does not check against former registrations. This makes trademark watching particularly important.
Opposition
Owners of earlier rights may file an opposition within six months of the publication in the Official Gazette. An opposition is a simplified action before the trademarks Office. It is much cheaper than any Court action.
Use
An AIPO trademark registration may be cancelled in Court if the mark is not used without a valid reason for a period of five years prior to the date of the cancellation action. Use in one member state suffices to satisfy the use requirement for all member countries. Proof of use is no longer required for renewal applications filed after entry into force of the new law on 28 February 2002.
Other features
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Assignment or transfer of the registration is only possible in respect of all member states. Transfer in respect of part of the goods and/or services is possible. Assignment and transfer must be recorded to be effective against third parties. |
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Licenses may be granted in respect of part of the goods and/or services and in respect of the whole or part of AIPO. They must be recorded at the Office to be effective against third parties. |
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Registrations will remain valid for 10 years from the date of filing, indefinitely renewable for similar periods. |
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