HOW TO OBTAIN A GRANT OF PATENT IN CAMEROON (APPLICATION)
Filing Applications for Patents in Cameroon
Any person wishing to obtain a patent for an invention shall file with the Organization or with the Ministry responsible for industrial property, or send to it by registered mail with a request for acknowledgment of receipt;
- His application to the Director General of the Organization in a sufficient number of copies;
- A document proving payment to the Organization of the filing and publication fees;
- An unstamped, private power of attorney if the applicant is represented by an agent;
- A sealed package containing in duplicate;
- A specification of the invention for which the application has been made, set out clearly and completely so that a person having ordinary knowledge and skill in the art could carry it out,
- The drawings necessary or useful for the understanding of the invention,
- The claim or claims defining the scope of the protection sought, which shall not go beyond the contents of the specification referred to above etc.
How are Patent Applications for Microorganism Invention Filed in Cameroon?
Where the invention involves a microorganism or the use of a microorganism, a receipt attesting the deposit of the microorganism, issued by a depositary institution or an international depositary authority specified in the implementing regulations shall in addition be filed.
Unity of Invention and Patent Application in Cameroon
The application shall be restricted to a single principal subject, with the details that constitute it and the uses specified. It shall contain no restrictions, conditions or reservations. It shall have a title that describes in a precise and succinct manner the purpose of the invention.
Claim of Priority and Patent Application in Cameroon
Any person wishing to avail himself of the priority of an earlier application shall be required to attach to his application for a patent or to send to the Organization at the latest six months following the filing date of his application;
- A written declaration stating the date and number of the earlier application, the country in which it was filed and the name of the applicant;
- A certified true copy of the said earlier application;
- If he is not the person who filed the earlier application, a written authorization from the applicant or his successors in title authorizing him to avail himself of the priority in question.
The applicant who, in respect of a single application, seeks to avail himself of two or more rights of priority is to comply with the provisions mentioned above for each of them; he shall also pay a fee for each priority right claimed and shall produce evidence of payment of the fee within the six-month period as mentioned above.
Failure to present any one of the documents mentioned above within the time limit shall automatically entail, for the application under consideration, loss of the benefit of the priority right claimed.
Any document that reaches the Organization more than six months after the filing of the patent application shall be declared inadmissible.
File Date of the Patent Application and Refusal Thereof in Cameroon
The date of receipt of the application, written in one of the working languages of the Organisation is considered by the Organization as the filing date. This is provided that at the time of receipt, the application contains the following;
- An express or implicit indication that the grant of a patent is requested;
- Information whereby the identity of the applicant may be established;
- A part which, at first sight, purports to be the description of an invention and one or more claims;
- Proof of payment of the prescribed fees.
The filing date of an international application shall be that assigned to it by the receiving office.
Unacceptability Due to Non-Payment
No filing shall be acceptable if the application is not accompanied by a document attesting payment of the application and publication fees.