How do African Chinese businessmen protect intellectual property rights?

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With the deepening of my country's investment in infrastructure in African countries for many years, the economies of African countries have begun to grow rapidly. More and more investors are starting to look for business opportunities in this "land of black gold". Under the global intellectual property competition environment, for companies planning to invest in Africa, the importance of understanding the local intellectual property system is self-evident.

The member states of the African Intellectual Property Organization are all former French colonies, so the designated language for unknowing registration is French. The main organization that ensures the protection of intellectual property rights in most French-speaking African countries. The organization plays two roles in the member states: it is not only the National Industrial Property Office, but also the central institution for intellectual property documentation and information. At the same time, it is responsible for the registration of industrial designs, product and service trademarks, company names, and names and marks of origin; copyright management; and patent information dissemination.

The member states of the non-knowledgeable organization are completely bound by the non-knowledgeable organization in the field of trademarks, and there is no independent trademark system, so there is no possibility of registration on a country-by-country basis, only registration through the non-knowledgeable organization. The trademark registration fee of the African Intellectual Property Organization is divided into two parts: inquiry and registration. If the trademark registration application is rejected, the registration fee will be refunded. Each application can apply for three categories. The right to exclusive use of a trademark shall be counted from the date of application and shall be valid for ten years, and the validity period for each renewal of registration shall be ten years.

African Intellectual Property Organization registration procedure:

1. Submit a registration application to the African Intellectual Property Organization. Each application can apply for three categories.

2. After the application is accepted, within 2-3 months, the registrar will conduct formal and substantive review of the application in accordance with the regulations of the relevant departments.

3. If the application passes the formal examination and substantive examination, it will be approved for registration. The registered trademark should be published in the official gazette. The announcement period is six months. If there is no objection or the objection is not established, the trademark shall be registered.

4. During the formal examination and substantive examination, if the examiner wants to reject the application, he must make a decision after hearing the applicant's or agent's reply, so the applicant can take advantage of this opportunity to reply.

5. If someone raises an objection to the published trademark during the objection period, the applicant can also make a reply for the examiner to hear. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the objection decision, he can also file a suit in the court.