Capacity-building for OAPI trade marks and industrial design examiners on substantive examination

The implementation of Annexes III and IV of the Bangui Agreement of December 14, 2015, has resulted in significant modifications to the trade mark and industrial design application assessment process at OAPI, effective as of 02 January 2022.

The interest in continuing to share skills and strengthen the capacity of the OAPI trade mark and Industrial design examiners on emerging tenets of substantive examination stems from previous in-person and virtual exchanges with various EUIPO experts, which have contributed to the consolidation of OAPI examiners’ experience.

Staff from the Trade Marks and Other Distinctive Signs Directorate (DMSD) and the Legal Affairs Directorate (DAJ), who are responsible for processing trade mark and design applications, participated in a study visit to the EUIPO. The visits aimed at industrial designs examiners and trade mark examiners took place on the 22-26 April 2024, and 13-17 May 2024.

OAPI has once again invited the EUIPO to take part in the International Conference on Industrial Designs, held alongside the 17th edition of the Salon International de l'Artisanat de Ouagadougou (SIAO), scheduled for October 24 to 26, 2024, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The EUIPO expert will be discussing the topic, “Strategy for the Promotion of Industrial Designs at the Regional and National Level: The Experience of the European Union Intellectual Property Office.”

The objectives of these exchanges are to:

• train OAPI staff to manage examination timeframes, opposition, and property claim procedures;

• share experiences on the assessment of the distinctive character of a trade mark;

• help staff master the assessment of the similarity of signs or designs in the context of prior art search;

• train staff to use good practices concerning the assessment of the risk of confusion;

• help staff master the use of various instruments intended to assist the classification process (Nice, Vienna, Locarno, TMclass, TMview, DesignView, DesignClass, etc.);

• share experience on managing and organising activities related to substantive examination;

• ensure the effective research of prior art, the reading-correction and the work of computer graphics.