Côte d'ivoire Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in côte d'ivoire, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Protecting Intellectual Property
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Côte d’Ivoire is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a signatory to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Côte d’Ivoire is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and is a signatory to the Berne Convention, Hague Agreement, Marrakesh Treaty, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Intellectual Property, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty.   These international obligations require Côte d’Ivoire to provide protection and enforcement for all types of intellectual property.

Côte d’Ivoire is a member of the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) and signatory to the Bangui Agreement, which provides unified trademark and patent laws for member states.   The Ivorian Intellectual Property Protection Office (Office Ivoirien de la Propriété Intellectuelle, OIPI) receives and examines applications for patents (utility patents, design patents – known as industrial designs, and plant patents), trademarks, trade names, geographical indications, and integrated circuits, and transmits them to the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI).   IP registered by OAPI is automatically valid in all 17 OAPI member states. U.S. businesses should consider filing for protection before introducing goods and services in the Ivoirian market. 

Copyrights in Côte d’Ivoire are handled by the Bureau Ivoirien du Droit d’Auteur (BURIDA), and guided by Law No. 2016-555 of July 26, 2016, on Copyright and Related Rights.  BURIDA provides collective management services for artistic and literary works. 

Finally, Côte d’Ivoire has separate legislation for IP enforcement, namely, Law No. 2013-865 of December 23, 2013, on Combatting Counterfeiting and Piracy, and the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Export and Import Operations and Commercialization of Goods and Services

Companies may wish to seek advice from local attorneys or IP consultants who are experts in Ivoirian law, see https://ci.usembassy.gov/services/.

STOPfakes.gov has an IP Snapshot for for Côte d’Ivoire. In any foreign market, companies should consider several general principles for effective protection of their intellectual property.  For additional background, link to our article on Protecting Intellectual Property and Stopfakes.gov for more resources.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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