Madrid Protocol Update

1.8.15

The OAPI (African Intellectual Property Organization) became the 93^rd member of the Madrid System on December 5, 2014, and can be designated in Madrid Protocol applications beginning March 5, 2015.  The OAPI is the main organization for the protection of intellectual property rights in French speaking African countries.  Its member states are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Togo.

The Madrid Protocol is a system of international trademark protection that allows trademark owners to register their trademarks (and service marks) in several countries by filing one application in one office in one language.