Aminou Ndala TITA based in Cameroon reports that there has been significant tension between OAPI and some its agents over OAPI's decision to join the Madrid Protocol. OAPI has responded banning certain members from practising. The full story:
"A month
after joining the Madrid Union, the dust has not settled on why OAPI chose that
option. The in house fighting between the Director General of OAPI and some of
his accredited agents has raised so much doubt on the competence of the organization’s
hierarchy.
Accredited
agents are those who have been granted special license by the Director General
of OAPI to represent clients. They are usually legal experts or those with a
background in IP and have fulfilled special conditions laid down by the organization.
It should be recalled that the decision to join Madrid was arrived at the
53rd session of the Board of Directors of OAPI held in Malabo on the 14th
December 2013. Resolution No. 53/25 of 14 December 2013, authorized the
accession of OAPI to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning
the International Registration of Marks. The Director General of OAPI was
mandated to submit the instrument of ratification with WIPO which he did on the
December 5, 2014. The official entry is dated March 5, 2015.
The
accession of OAPI to the Madrid Protocol has not been welcome my most IP legal
practitioners within the OAPI Jurisdiction. These legal minds who now branded themselves
as « Collectif des Conseils en propriété industrielle » have labeled
the OAPI accession to Madrid illegal and are bent on reversing this decision.
The arguments advanced by these group are:
1. That OAPI as an
international organization does not have the mandate to ratify a treaty on
behalf of member states.
2. That the Bangui Agreement does not allow the Organization to ratify a treaty through a resolution of its Board of Directors;
3. That only independent states have the power to ratify
such a Protocol;
4. That accession to the Madrid Protocol
will have negative economic and
strategic impact on member States
of OAPI.
5. The professional / accredited
agents of OAPI will experience a
decline in the volume of their
activities.
This
action has been met by stiff resistance from the organization. The organization
hierarchy has suspended (http://oapi.int/index.php/fr/toute-lactualite/507-note-dinformation-sur-le-protocole-de-madrid) all agents involved in
this action which to him is an attempt to discredit and destabilize the
organization. The communique from the D.G reads:
“The patent attorneys involved in this campaign and the firms
they are attached to, will not be
allowed to represent clients at OAPI for any action which include but not limited to Patent,
trademark and design applications, opposition, appeals, recordals etc.;
- They are also banned
from advertising their firms as official agent / attorneys of OAPI”.
The list of
agents and firm suspended by OAPI has not been made known to the public but one
thing is clear, this will definitely be a long fight."
