Intellectual Property Criminal Law in OAPI

The issue of the existence of a criminal law on intellectual property is currently the subject of much debate, as the field is still embryonic and in full bloom. Its examination is even more interesting when placed in the context of the Bangui Agreement and the member states of the African Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter ＂OAPI＂). In other parts of the world, a number of contemporary authors, pioneers in the field, have tackled the subject, highlighting the singular, recent, technical and complex nature of this law. More than six decades after the Libreville Agreement, the new Community legislator, anxious to ensure respect for intellectual property rights and to combat effectively the criminal phenomenon of counterfeiting in the OAPI area, has systematically incorporated repressive provisions (both substantive and formal) into the Agreement and its Annexes, while assigning contentious jurisdiction to the criminal courts of the member states. Today, the question of criminal IP law in the OAPI space is emerging as an issue of great interest and merit.