If the application does not meet the formal requirements of Article 14 of Annex 1 of the Bangui Agreement (except for the provision of proof of payment in Paragraph 1 (b) of the Law), OAPI will notify the applicant or his agent to make amendments within 3 months after receiving the notice (an extension of 3 days may be applied according to the situation). OAIP will reject the application if it is not modified within the specified time limit.
● substantive examination
after formal examination, OAPI conducts substantive examination on the patent application, examining whether the invention can be granted a patent, whether the patent claim conforms to the provisions, and whether it abides by the principle of singularity of the invention stipulated in Article 15. OAPI decides whether to compile a search report according to the situation, and determines that there is no conflicting application before the application date or priority date, and the invention meets the requirements of novelty, industrial applicability and creativity.