Niger
Country Name: Niger
Niger: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND FILING REQUIREMENTS
OAPI
The Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle or OAPI(English: African Intellectual Property Organization or AIPO) is a union of seventeen French speaking African countries namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoro Islands, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
General Info:
1. A Trademark Registration in OAPI is valid for 10 years from the filing date of the application and thereafter the registration can be renewed for another 10 years upon payment of required fee.
2. Renewal of a trademark registration can be done as long as the proprietor of the mark wants to protect it.
3. Trademark Search is not mandatory before filing under OAPI, however, strongly recommended so as to ascertain the possibility of acceptance of a mark upon examination.
4. The members of OAPI have consolidated their Intellectual Property Laws and hence it is no longer possible to file a trademark application in individual countries party to OAPI.
5. Multiple class registration is possible.
Filing Requirements:
1. Graphical representation of the trademark i.e. device or logo etc. Further graphical representation for a simple word mark is not required.
2. A full range of goods or services covered or proposed to be covered by the trademark application. As per the current system in force, product and service marks are object of distinct applications.
3. A priority document in case a priority is being claimed. A certified translation of the document is required in case the document is in a language other than English or French.
4. The name, nationality and the complete address of the applicant (for both natural or legal person).
5. A simple signed Power of Attorney in English or French duly signed by the applicant or by an authorised signatory on behalf of the applicant, in case the applicant is a company (i.e. legal person). No legalization or notarization of the document is required.
6. The document mentioned in item no. 5 should be furnished within 30 days from the filing of the application at OAPI.
7. The opposition period is 6 months from the publication date of the trademark in the Official Gazette.
8. If a trademark has not been used in at least one of the member states within 5 years from registration or has later not been used for a continuous period of 5 years, it may be subject to cancellation at the request of any interested party.
General Info:
1. OAPI is party to Paris Convention and Patent Cooperation Treaty.
2. The term of protection of a patent application in OAPI is 20 years. Thereafter the patent falls in the public domain.
3. It is not possible to file individual Patent application in the member countries.
4. The priority deadline for entering national phase under PCT is 30 months from the earliest priority where as the priority deadline is 12 months under Paris Convention.
Filing Requirements:
The Requirements for filing a PCT Application | The Requirements for filing a Non-PCT application |
Simple Signed Power of Attorney in English/French. The document can be submitted within three months from the date of the filing of local application. | -Same as the other- |
A copy of Specification, Claims, Abstract, Drawings (if any) in English or French | – Same as the other- |
Deed of Assignment duly signed by all inventors of the application. The document can be submitted within six months from the date of filing. | – Same as the other- |
Copy of the International Application. Required to be submitted on the day of filing. | Certified priority document with sworn and verified English or French translation in case a convention priority is claimed. The document can be submitted within six months of the date of filing of the local application. |
Copy of International Search Report & Copy of International Preliminary Examination Report (if applicable) to be submitted at the time of filing or at a later date. | – Not Applicable- |
1. OAPI is party to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs.
2. The term of protection of design registration is five years, which is extendable up to two consecutive five year term upon payment of renewal fees.
3. Marking of Industrial Design is necessary to protect from Infringement.
Filing Requirements:
1. Simple signed Power of Attorney
2. Three sets of formal drawings
3. Certified Priority document with sworn and verified translation in French or English.
As members of the Berne Convention, clients can protect creative works in the OAPI (AIPO) countries, as well as all the other member nations automatically (more than 160 countries) by making one application