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The registration process with the OIPI

Enhance and Protect your creations

The patent

  • What can you patent?

Only an invention can be patented. This invention must fulfill the following conditions:

Be new, ie it 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 used in any kind of industry, including agriculture.

  • Who can patent?

Any natural person,

Any legal person,

Any sole proprietorship.

The brand

  • Why register your trademark?

Registering a trademark allows:

To appropriate the sign,

To identify its owner;

Identify products with the desired or desired quality and characteristic compared to other products

Identify the manufacturer's products;

To differentiate the products of a company,

To oppose the use of a sign identical or similar to that already filed

To take action for infringement.

  • What can be registered as a trademark?

Any visible sign (words-drawings-shapes) can be filed as a trademark:

Nominal brands.

Are denominations in all forms such as:

Words or combinations of words, e.g. : SUPER SKIN (for Unilever soap);

  • A slogan, eg. : Well adjusted for you (for prepaid cards from Orange);

Numbers, letters, abbreviations eg. : Beer 33, 555 (for cigarettes), SVP for information services;

- A person's name, first name, pseudonym, company name, e.g. : Chanel, El Assad Nawal, Ciss Saint Moses;

- A geographical name (with the exception of indications of source and appellation of origin), e.g. : Ivory Coast Cocoa Land for Chocolate, NIGUISAFF K DANSE

Figurative marks.

Figurative marks consist of graphic or plastic forms such as:

- Drawings, labels, stamps, logos eg. : a portrait, a landscape, intertwined letters

- Holograms, computer-generated images

- Forms, in particular those of the product or its packaging or those characterizing a service, e.g. : the shape of the Coca-Cola bottle;

- Arrangements, combinations or shades of colors, e.g. : the shaded green of Sodeci

  • Who owns the brand?

The trademark belongs to the first applicant.

  • What title is issued to the applicant?

The filing of the mark gives rise to the issuance of a registration certificate.

The trade name

  • Why protect?

Trade name protection allows:

Indicate the manufacturing or marketing company for your products;

To appropriate it

To have an exclusive right of exploitation;

To give a safe, unique address to your customers;

To fight against fraud and unfair competition;

To rally the customers of your Commercial Name;

To link the products and services to the company.

  • Who can file?

Any natural person

Any legal person

Any sole proprietorship

For the patent application, two (02) steps

Step 1: Online Pre-Registration

Registration and deposit account

Connection and Pre-registration of a request

Viewing and Submitting a Request

Statuses of a request

Finalize the process

Step 2: Submission of the physical file

Parts to be provided on request

The application file includes:

1. A request drawn up on forms provided by the OIPI;

2. Proof of payment of the required taxes;

3. A sealed envelope containing:

- A sufficient description of the invention, so that a person skilled in the art with average knowledge and skill can carry it out.

- Drawings that would be necessary or useful for understanding and description;

- The claim(s) defining the points on which the inventor considers that he has made a new work and therefore intends to be protected.

The greatest care must be taken in drafting the description and the claims. Indeed, it is the claims that determine the scope of protection and thus constitute the element that can be opposed to third parties.

Assistance from OIPI or an industrial property attorney may be useful.

Useful links

https://www.oipi.ci/

Contact information

II Plateaux Rue des Jardins - Block 204

Phone. : +225 22 41 16 65

Ivory Coast – Intellectual Property Information

The Ivorian Intellectual Property Office, abbreviated as OIPI, is the national public institution created by Decree No. 2005 112 of 02/24/2005, responsible for administering the Intellectual Property system. It also represents the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Among other things, the Ivorian Office of Intellectual Property has the following missions:

  • to make available to inventors, researchers, research centers its documentary base made up of patents free of exploitation as well as patents fallen into the public domain;
  • to make it possible to make profitable inventions and innovations patents or registered trademarks and to protect them, etc.

Services rendered by the OIPI:

The Ivorian Intellectual Property Office is a structure at the service of users of the intellectual property system: Industrialists, Distributors, Craftsmen, Service providers, Inventors, Researchers, Lawyers, Agents, Students, etc.

As such, the Office:

  • Advises, assists any person, on the occasion of filing applications for Industrial Property titles;
  • Receives and examines applications for Industrial Property titles, with a view to their transmission to the OAPI headquarters in Yaoundé (CAMEROON);
  • Makes available to the public its documentary base (CD-ROMS, national registers, official bulletins of OAPI, INPI, WIPO specialized works etc.)

Learn more: https://www.oipi.ci/presentation/

What is the patent?

It is a title deed issued to protect an invention. The invention is the solution to a particular problem in the field of technology.

What is the brand?

Are considered as a product or service mark, all visible signs used or that one proposes to use and which are specific to distinguish the products or services of any company.

Individual Brands

Individual trademarks are intended to be exploited by their owner, either directly or indirectly (licenses). They make it possible to distinguish: The products of a manufacturer (trademark) ex. : Dinor, Farinor, Ideal; Or those of a merchant (trademark) eg: Sococe, Orange; Or the services of a provider (service mark) ex. : Grill Festival, Air Côte d'Ivoire.

2.2 Collective Marks

Collective marks are used jointly by several people (public law groups, unions, associations, groups of producers), required to comply with usage regulations approved by the National Committee for Trademarks and Geographical Indications.

What is a trade name?

A trade name is the name under which a commercial, industrial, artisanal or agricultural establishment is known and operated.

Ex: SOCOCE, COSMIVOIRE, Ets Sylla & Frères, UTB, ORCA DECO.

This trade name may also constitute a product or service mark.

Ex: CHRONOPOST / DHL / NESTLE