Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle

The Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle or OAPI (African Intellectual Property Organization) is an intellectual property organization

Intellectual property organization

Intellectual property organizations are organizations that are focused on copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other intellectual property law concepts....

, headquartered in Yaoundé

Yaoundé

-Transportation:Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport is a major civilian hub, while nearby Yaoundé Airport is used by the military. Railway lines run west to the port city of Douala and north to N'Gaoundéré. Many bus companies operate from the city; particularly in the Nsam and Mvan neighborhoods...

, Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

. The organisation was created by Bangui

Bangui

-Law and government:Bangui is an autonomous commune of the Central African Republic. With an area of 67 km², it is by far the smallest high-level administrative division of the CAR in area but the highest in population...

Agreement of March 2, 1977. The Bangui Agreement was subsequently amended in 1999.

Its 16 member states are mostly French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

-speaking countries.

Members

Organs

The organisation has three organs: The Administrative Council; the High Commission of Appeal; and the Directorate General.

Rights covered

The Bangui Agreement covers patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, trade names, geographical indications, copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

, unfair competition

Unfair competition

Unfair competition in a sense means that the competitors compete on unequal terms, because favourable or disadvantageous conditions are applied to some competitors but not to others; or that the actions of some competitors actively harm the position of others with respect to their ability to...

, integrated circuit layouts and plant variety rights.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.