Information Guide

Who can file a patent?

  • Any natural person
  • Any legal person
  • Any sole proprietorship

What are the application documents or files?

The application file includes:

at. A request drawn up on a form provided by OAPI

b. The proof of payment of the required taxes

vs. A sealed envelope containing:

  • A sufficient description of the invention, so that a person skilled in the art with knowledge and average skill can carry it out
  • Drawings that would be necessary/useful for the description
  • The claim or claims defining the points on which the inventor considers that he has made a new work and therefore intends to be protected.

Contact information

Address Comorian Office of Intellectual Cleanliness (OCPI)

Former Cefader, Mdé

BGC building, 2nd floor

PO Box 139 Moroni

Comoros

Tel: +269 333 0307

Patenting Services

Patents, also known as invention patents, are the most common way to protect the rights of inventors. A patent is an exclusive right that the State grants to its owner to protect his invention and allow him to use and exploit it, preventing third parties from using it without his authorization.

In the Comoros, the Comorian Office for Intellectual Cleanliness (OCPI) is responsible for issuing patents. The Comorian Intellectual Property Office (OCPI) is a national public institution created by Decree No. 10-173 of November 26, 2010, with legal personality and financial autonomy. It also ensures the representations of the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Missions of the Comorian Office for Intellectual Cleanliness (OCPI)

The Comorian Office for Intellectual Cleanliness (OCPI) is responsible, among other things, for:

  • Implement the State's policy on intellectual property;
  • Ensure the management of all acts relating to the filing, issuance of industrial property titles and related rights;
  • Inform, raise awareness and disseminate any information necessary for the protection of industrial property;
  • Initiate the ratification and denunciation of agreements, conventions, bilateral, regional and multilateral treaties in the field of intellectual property and ensure their implementation at the national level;
  • Develop international agreements as well as the technical representation of the Union of the Comoros in the international organizations competent in the field of intellectual property;
  • Make available to the public all technical and legal documentation concerning industrial property;
  • Protect all intellectual property titles as defined in the Bangui Agreement and fight, in conjunction with the competent services, any infringement in the field;
  • Promote and manage intellectual property activities in partnership with the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

What can you patent?

Only an invention can be patented. It must meet the following conditions:

  • Be new, that is to say, must not have been the subject of any disclosure anywhere, regardless of the country and by any means whatsoever, even by the inventor himself;
  • Involve an inventive step, that is to say that it goes beyond the skills of a person skilled in the art confronted with the technical problem to be solved. It should not follow from the evidence;
  • Be capable of industrial application, that is to say that its object can be manufactured or that it is likely to be useful in any kind of industry including agriculture.