EL-BREV
Patents & utility models
Protect a new technical solution — including the “petty patent”.
Patents and utility models (often called “petty patents”) protect products and processes that provide a new technical solution, according to the significance of the invention. The revised Bangui Agreement introduced, among other things, publication for opposition and substantive examination.
Who it is for
Inventors, industry, and PCT holders entering the OAPI regional phase.
Typical path
- Qualify the subject-matter: what can be protected, and in what form.
- Search prior rights (identical, then similar).
- Prepare and file the application, pay the fees, follow examination.
- Maintain the title, watch the Gazette, enforce if it is attacked.