African patent organizations

Countries designated as members of the European Patent Organization (EPO), the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), or PCT may be found as designated states in the records of EP, OA, and WO documents, whether or not those countries are indexed separately in a database. 

Similar to the European Patent Convention are two African organizations, joining English speaking countries or former French colonies by a common patent application and examination system. 

The African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPOI has a central registry in Harare, Zimbabwe, which examines patent applications and notifies member states on favourable examinations. 

There are a number of other regional patent application systems in operation. In Africa, two regional systems operate the African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO), formed in 1976, and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), formed in 1962. These systems have 11 and 15 member states, respectively. In the Middle East, the Gulf Cooperation Treaty operate to provide protection in six countries (for example, Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates), and the Eurasian Patent System operates to provide protection in nine countries of the former Soviet Union, including Russia. 

---