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16 December 2015Patents

OAPI interview: Finding the right path

Last year, the World Customs Organization (WCO) published its findings into Operation Biyela 2, an anti-counterfeiting programme targeting fake products distributed across 14 African nations. The WCO recovered 113 million fake pharmaceutical products at various sea ports in late May and early June.

The seizures certainly dented the illicit trade of counterfeit drugs, which the WCO was adamant is an increasing concern. Counterfeiters are deploying ever more sophisticated strategies to keep their products hidden from enforcement officials, says the WCO, meaning enforcement is a much more difficult task.

Before the operation, the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) had joined the Madrid Protocol in December 2014 and the treaty entered into force the following March. OAPI’s participation was quite a coup for the World Intellectual Property Organization, as OAPI covers 17 West African nations. OAPI was the 93rd member to join, and has taken the number of participating countries past 100.

In recent months, Algeria, The Gambia and Zimbabwe have all added their names to the list as part of a movement of African countries entering into the Madrid Protocol. The main advantage of the developments is a streamlined process of protection for businesses either from or working in Africa. The Madrid Protocol covers approximately 80% of the world’s market.

Dissenting voices

The benefits are seemingly clear, but OAPI’s route to membership has not been without its hiccups. In April, OAPI suspended lawyers who had joined the Collectif des Conseils en Propriété Industrielle (Association of Industrial Property Attorneys), a group of lawyers opposed to OAPI’s accession to the Madrid Protocol.

The association argued that OAPI lacked the authority to join the Madrid Protocol on behalf of its 17 members. A law firm whose members were suspended but did not want to be named says that it supported the broader aim of joining the Madrid Protocol, but opposed the way it has been handled.

“OAPI has set up a fund to help and promote invention and innovation." Paulin edou edou oapi director general

Paulin Edou Edou, director general of OAPI, said in April that any anybody involved in the campaign “will not be allowed to represent clients at OAPI”.

Speaking to WIPR, Edou Edou defended the decision to suspend the lawyers.

“The law firms’ criticisms are unfounded. Those law firms are not aware of the legal founding principles of OAPI’s accession to the Madrid Protocol.”

The challenge for Edou Edou is that he heads an organisation that encompasses a number of languages and economies at different rates of development. According to the UN, the majority of OAPI’s members are on its least-developed countries list.

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