" Champagne ": first geographical ascription protected by the OAPI

The OAPI and L’National Institut of the Patent rights of France (INPI) meet regularly to evoke various subjects relating to the patent rights. The OAPI is an integrated regional system which covers the 16 following African countries:

Benign	Guinea Bissau
Burkina Faso	Equatorial Guinea
Cameroun	Mali
Central Africa	Mauritania
Congo	Niger
Ivory Coast	Senegal
Gabon	Chad
Guinea	Togo

The last meeting related to the protection of the geographical ascriptions. Thus the interprofessional Committee of the Champagne wines (CIVC) could profit from the first procedure D’recording Community of L’OAPI. L’name D’origin " Champagne " thus became the first geographical ascription protected on L’together from the 16 Member States from L’OAPI.

A regional seminar on the geographical ascriptions is envisaged during 2007 in Yaounde, sits of L’OAPI, in which L’INPI will take part as well as the CIVC.