News: Trademark registration in Sao-Tome and Principe

Registration of trademark in Sao Tome and Principe

The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is located on the eponymous archipelago in Central Africa. This small island state is one of the smallest countries in Africa. The main occupation of the population is agricultural production (cocoa, coffee, bananas, etc.), and the country is engaged in oil extraction together with Nigeria since 2001.

Sao Tome and Principe is the state party to the Madrid Protocol and the African Intellectual Property Organization (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle, OAPI), therefore the trademark in Sao Tome and Principe can be registered in three ways:

• National registration procedure;
• Regional registration procedure through OAPI;
• International procedure for registration of trademark.

The most acceptable is the registration of trademark using the regional procedure, as it allows to protect the trademark in all countries that are members of the organization. An application for trademark registration should be submitted to the Central Office of the OAPI.

It passes considerably uncomplicated formal examination. In case of compliance with formal requirements, the application is registered and should be published in the Official Bulletin of the organization. The entire registration procedure according to the regional system starting from submission of the application up to the registration takes 9-12 months.

The following can be registered as trademarks in Sao Tome and Principe:

• Any graphic images;
• Sound and color combinations;
• Various combinations of words and numbers;
• Various slogans, holograms, etc.

It is necessary to attach the following documents to the application with the request for registering a brand name in the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe:

• Designation, which is subject to registration;
• List of classes of goods and services to which the products subject to marking by the claimed trademark belong;
• Word description of the trademark.

Law&Trust International has extensive experience in registration of intellectual property, patents and trademarks in various regions of the world. Contact Law&Trust International, and you will save not only time, but also your money.