Protecting inventions in Africa
When it comes to patenting inventions in Africa, apart from direct filings in the country of interest using the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, applicants can choose between two regional offices: the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) and/or the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).
The filing of a patent application in a regional office has the advantage of encompassing several countries in a single application. However, in a continent with two different regional offices, some points should be considered before choosing one of them to protect your invention.
OAPI and ARIPO do not share common member states, so the first point to be considered by applicants when electing a regional office to file a patent application is the territory where they wish to protect and explore their inventions.
OAPI was created by the Bangui Agreement of 1977 and encompasses 17 member states, most of them being French-speaking countries. Under OAPI, only a regional patent can be obtained for the contracting member states since they do not have national IP laws. Also, all member states are covered by a single application.
ARIPO was established by the Lusaka Agreement of 1976 and encompasses 19 member states (mostly English-speaking countries). With regard to patents, ARIPO follows the dispositions of the Harare Protocol, which was first adopted in 1982 and regulates the procedures and substantive requirements for the protection of inventions among its member states. The Harare Protocol is in force in all the organisation’s 19 member states except Somalia. Also, except for Swaziland, all the remainder countries can grant a national patent in addition to, or instead of, a regional patent. At ARIPO, the member states of interest must be designated by the applicant at the time of the filing.
Member states
Among OAPI’s member states is Niger, the African country with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. South Africa and Egypt, the next African countries in the GDP list, are not contracting states of OAPI nor ARIPO. In these countries, applications must be filed directly (via the Paris Convention) or through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system.
Morocco and Tunisia are not member states of either OAPI or ARIPO. However, due to agreements concluded between the national offices and the European Patent Office (EPO), applicants may designate their European patent applications and further validate their European patents in these territories.
OAPI and ARIPO are both part of the PCT and are competent receiving offices for nationals and residents of their member states. For the regional phases, the time limit for filing a regional phase application in ARIPO is 31 months and the application must be filed in English. In OAPI, the deadline is 30 months and the application must be filed in English or in French.
