In West Africa, there are 17 different nations where it is not possible to register a national trade mark.
The only option to gain trade mark protection, in those countries, is to file a trade mark with the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle or (OAPI) and the local domain name is no easy feat - because each country has its own unique rules and regulations.
This makes registration time-consuming and complicated, however if a trade mark warrants protection within OAPI, acquiring the local domain name is definitely worth it.
Due to the limited domain recovery options in this region, it is recommended that a strategic defensive registration policy be adopted. If a local presence is an obstacle, we would recommend registering on the domain extensions where a local presence is not required.
Country | Extension | Restriction |
|---|---|---|
| Benin | .bj | None |
| Burkina Faso | .bf | Local presence or trade mark required |
| Cameroon | .cm | None |
| Central African Republic | .cf | None |
| Chad | .td | None |
| Comoros | .km | Local presence or trade mark required |
| Congo | .cg | None |
| Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) | .ci | None |
| Equatorial Guinea | .gq | None |
| Gabon | .ga | None |
| Guinea | com.gn | Local presence demonstrating intention to use |
| Guinea-Bissau | .gw | None |
| Mali | .ml | None |
| Mauritania | .mr | None |
| Niger | .ne | Local presence required |
| Senegal | .sn | None |
| Togo | .tg | None |
We are aware that our clients are looking for a regional solution so we have packaged all the domain extensions listed above into one bulk offering to ensure that your OAPI trademark is secured within that region’s domain name space.
Please reach out to us for costing on the OAPI domain name package.