South Africa is not in the Madrid Protocol, so a trademark there means a national CIPC filing, one application per class. This guide, checked against the Trade Marks Act 194 of 1993 and its Regulations, explains what foreign applicants need, how CIPC searches earlier marks itself, every deadline from filing to renewal, the 5-year use rule and why misusing the ® symbol is an offence.
OAPI Trademark Registration: How One Filing Covers 17 African Countries
Written by Emily Brooks ·
There is no separate national trademark in Senegal, Cameroon, Ivory Coast or any of the other 14 OAPI member states. The African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) acts as the national trademark office for all 17 of them, so one application filed with OAPI protects the mark in every member state. OAPI publishes the application, third parties have 3 months to oppose it, and the registration lasts 10 years from the filing date, renewable indefinitely. That single filing is how we register trademarks in OAPI.
Verified in October 2026 against the Bangui Agreement as revised by the Bamako Act (Annex III, trademarks), OAPI and WIPO. Article numbers below refer to Annex III unless stated otherwise.
Why you can't register a trademark "in Senegal" alone
Under the Bangui Agreement, OAPI serves as the national industrial property office of each member state (Agreement, art. 3), and an application filed with OAPI, or with the national administration of a member state, counts as a national filing in every member state (Agreement, art. 9). The rights are still national: a registration gives you independent rights in each of the 17 countries, and the Agreement itself is the trademark law there (Agreement, art. 5).
In practice, that leaves no way to file in one member state only. At Protect.TM, if you order a trademark "in Senegal" or "in Cameroon", we file it with OAPI, and it covers all 17 states below.
Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and most English-speaking African countries are not OAPI members. An OAPI registration does not protect a mark there.
Who can file, where, and what goes in the application
- Foreign applicants need a local agent. Applicants domiciled outside the member states must file through an agent chosen in one of them (Agreement, art. 8.4).
- Where it is filed. Directly with OAPI in Yaoundé, or with the national administration of a member state, which must forward it to OAPI within 5 working days (art. 11). OAPI also accepts electronic filing.
- What the file contains (art. 9): the application addressed to OAPI's Director General, proof that the fees were paid, a reproduction of the mark, a clear list of goods and services with their Nice classes, the priority document if you claim priority, and a simple power of attorney, with no stamp duty, if an agent files for you. Collective marks also need their regulations of use.
- Goods and services in one application. A registration can cover one or several classes of goods and/or services (art. 10). Some guides still say goods and services need separate applications. That was the old rule: France's INPI noted that the revision introduced a single application for goods and/or services.
When we file your OAPI trademark application, licensed attorneys prepare it, act as your agent before OAPI, and send you a filing report with the application number, the filing date and a scanned copy of what was filed.
Before you file: the clearance search is on you
OAPI's own trademark page recommends a prior search before filing, and the law explains why. When OAPI examines an application, it checks the formalities, the fees and the absolute grounds for refusal: lack of distinctiveness, marks contrary to public order, misleading marks and official emblems (art. 18.2, referring to art. 3 a, c, d and e). Conflict with an earlier mark (art. 3 b) is not on that list. The owner of the earlier mark has to raise it, by opposition at OAPI (art. 15) or by a nullity action before a national court (art. 28).
In practice, OAPI can register a mark that is close to yours, and it can register yours even when it is close to someone else's. You then find out by opposition. A search before filing is cheaper than defending one. Start with a trademark search in OAPI, or order the Comprehensive Trademark Study, which an attorney reviews and which gives a Low, Medium or High risk rating.
The OAPI trademark procedure, step by step
- Filing. OAPI gives the application a filing date when it receives the applicant's identity, a request for registration, the mark with its goods or services, the fee payment details and, if there is one, the agent's name and address (art. 13.1).
- Fees. If the fees are not paid within 1 month, the application is considered withdrawn (art. 13.2).
- Examination. Formalities, fees and absolute grounds. If something is irregular, the applicant has 3 months to fix it, plus 30 days on a justified request (art. 18.3).
- Publication of the application. OAPI publishes the application number, filing date, mark, goods and services, applicant, priority and agent (art. 14).
- Opposition window. 3 months from that publication (art. 15.1).
- Registration. OAPI registers and publishes the mark (art. 18.7). The legal date of the registration is the filing date (art. 18.9), so your 10 years start counting from the day you filed.
- Certificate. OAPI issues a registration certificate with the number, filing date, mark, classes, goods and services, owner and any priority (art. 20).
We do not quote an average processing time. The total depends mostly on objections and oppositions, and the times published online vary widely and do not cite OAPI.
OAPI trademark deadlines at a glance
| Stage | Deadline | Source (Annex III) |
|---|---|---|
| Priority claim from an earlier filing abroad | File within 6 months of the earlier filing | Art. 12.1 |
| Priority declaration and certified copy | Within 3 months of filing at OAPI; after that, the priority is lost (restoration possible) | Art. 12.2, 12.4, 12.5 |
| Payment of filing fees | 1 month, or the application is considered withdrawn | Art. 13.2 |
| Fixing an irregularity | 3 months from notification, plus 30 days if justified | Art. 18.3 |
| Opposition by a third party | 3 months from publication of the application | Art. 15.1 |
| Applicant's reply to an opposition | 3 months, renewable once on request | Art. 15.2 |
| Ownership claim by the prior user of the mark | 3 months from publication | Art. 16.1 |
| Appeal against an opposition decision or a refusal | 60 days from notification, to the Higher Appeals Commission | Art. 15.4, 19 |
| Term of protection | 10 years from the filing date, renewable indefinitely | Art. 22 |
| Renewal | During the last year of each 10-year term | Art. 24.1 |
| Grace period for renewal | 6 months after the term ends, with a surcharge | Art. 24.2 |
| Restoration of an unrenewed mark | 6 months after the obstacle ends, at most 2 years after renewal was due | Art. 29.1 |
| Non-use | 5 uninterrupted years without use in any member state exposes the mark to revocation | Art. 27.1 |
Opposition after the Bamako Act: 3 months, before registration
The Bamako Act, the 2015 revision of the Bangui Agreement, entered into force in November 2020. France's INPI summarised the change: the opposition period was cut in half, and oppositions can be filed as soon as applications are published, before registration. Under the current text:
- Anyone with an interest can oppose within 3 months from the publication of the application (art. 15.1). An opposition can rely on an earlier registered right, an earlier filing or priority date, or on the absolute grounds in arts. 2 and 3.
- The applicant has 3 months to reply, renewable once on request, and either side can ask to be heard (art. 15.2 and 15.3).
- OAPI refuses the application only to the extent the opposition is well founded (art. 15.5). Its decision can be appealed within 60 days (art. 15.4).
- Separately, someone who was using the mark first can claim ownership of an application filed in bad faith within 3 months of its publication (art. 16).
Many guides still say the opposition period is 6 months. That figure comes from the previous version of the Agreement. If you watch for conflicting filings, plan on 3 months.
Duration, renewal and restoration
An OAPI registration lasts 10 years from the filing date and can be renewed for further 10-year periods without limit (art. 22). The renewal is requested during the last year of the term. After that, there is a 6-month grace period with a surcharge (art. 24.1 and 24.2). You cannot change the mark or add goods or services at renewal, only narrow the list, and OAPI does not examine the mark again (art. 24.3 and 24.4).
If a mark lapses anyway, two rules apply:
- For 3 years after expiry, nobody else can register it for identical or similar goods or services (art. 24.6).
- If the renewal was missed for reasons beyond the owner's control, the mark can be restored within 6 months after those reasons end, and no later than 2 years after renewal was due (art. 29.1).
You can renew an OAPI trademark with us, including marks first filed by another representative and renewals within the grace period.
Non-use: the 5-year rule
Anyone with an interest can ask a national court to revoke a mark that has not been used for 5 uninterrupted years in the territory of any member state, unless the owner has a legitimate excuse (art. 27.1). Two details matter for foreign owners:
- Use in one member state is enough. You do not need to trade in all 17.
- The owner must prove the use (art. 27.2), so keep dated invoices, labels and advertising from the region.
Priority and the Madrid route
If you filed the same mark elsewhere in the last 6 months, you can claim that date as priority at OAPI (art. 12). OAPI has also been a member of the Madrid System since 5 March 2015 (WIPO), so an international registration can designate OAPI. A Madrid designation depends on your home application for its first five years, and OAPI still examines it under its own rules. Our guide to how the Madrid System works explains the trade-offs. A direct OAPI filing does not need a base mark in another country.
What Protect.TM handles for an OAPI trademark
| Service | Available | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive Trademark Study | Yes | Conflict search plus attorney-reviewed registrability analysis, with a risk rating |
| Trademark search | Yes | Search tool |
| Filing with OAPI (word, figurative or combined mark; one or more classes) | Yes | We act as your agent; you get a filing report with the application number |
| Priority claim | Yes | Within 6 months of your first filing |
| Registration certificate | Yes | Issued by OAPI after registration |
| Renewal, including late renewal in the grace period | Yes | Renewal page |
| Responses to objections and oppositions | Quoted separately | Not included in the filing service; they need their own legal analysis |
Current prices are on each service page. We don't publish them here because official fees and exchange rates change.
OAPI trademark FAQ
Can I protect my trademark only in Ivory Coast or only in Cameroon?
No. A filing with OAPI, or with a member state's national administration, counts as a filing in all 17 member states (Agreement, art. 9). There is no single-country option.
How long does an OAPI trademark last?
10 years from the filing date, renewable for further 10-year periods without limit (art. 22).
What is the opposition period at OAPI?
3 months from the publication of the application, and it runs before registration (art. 15.1).
Do I need a local agent to file with OAPI?
Yes, if you are domiciled outside the 17 member states (Agreement, art. 8.4).
Does an OAPI trademark cover Nigeria or Ghana?
No. Neither country is an OAPI member, so a mark needs its own filing in each of them.
One application, 17 countries and a 3-month opposition window: start your OAPI trademark registration, or search OAPI trademarks first.
