Recently, the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) launched its online publicly accessible intellectual property jurisprudential database, OAPILEX.
While the OAPILEX database contains limited content at present, due to it still being in the development phase, the long term goal for the platform is to provide the public with access to a wide range of materials, including legal texts, national intellectual property laws applicable in the 17 OAPI member states, as well as IP-related decisions handed down by the National and Regional Courts, the OAPI Opposition Commission and the Appeals Board.
The platform also contains useful links to various third party research and informational sites, including AfrIPI (Intellectual Property Rights & Innovation in Africa) and WIPO Lex, which offers access to legal information on IP around the world.
OAPI is in the process of updating its official website and during this period, the OAPILEX platform can be accessed via the following link: http://siege.oapi.int:81/. By making OAPI IP decisions and laws easily accessible to the public, OAPILEX is an exciting new development in the IP industry.
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