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Law No. 14/2002 on the establishment and organization of the Gabon Industrial Property

Center

Courtesy translation provided by WIPO, © 2012

The National Assembly and the Senate have adopted,

The President of the Republic, Head of State,

Hereby promulgates the following Law:

Article 1: The present Law, adopted pursuant to Article 47 of the Constitution, provides

for the establishment and organization of the Gabon Industrial Property Center,

hereinafter referred to as CEPIG.

Article 2: CEPIG shall be a public administrative institution with legal personality and

financial management autonomy. It shall have its headquarters in Libreville.

Article 3: CEPIG shall be a body for the support of national policy relating to industrial

property and for liaison with international organizations responsible for industrial

property, in particular the African Intellectual Property Organization. In that capacity it

shall be responsible for:

­ monitoring and addressing, at the national and international levels, in

cooperation with relevant organizations and offices, all matters relating to industrial

property and the industrial exploitation of technological advances;

­ preventing infringements of industrial property law, in particular combating

counterfeiting and unfair competition;

­ ensuring and promoting the protection and use of industrial property throughout

the national territory;

­ representing and defending the interests of the Gabonese State within

international institutions responsible for industrial property;

­ preparing instruments of ratification or denunciation of agreements,

conventions and bilateral and multinational treaties relating to industrial property and

ensuring their implementation;

­ providing technical assistance to economic operators for the preparation of

documents for the acquisition of industrial property titles and the assignment or granting

of licenses;

­ organizing, coordinating and directing awareness­raising and information

activities relating to industrial property throughout the national territory;

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­ receiving for deposit all national applications for industrial property titles before

they are forwarded to the African Intellectual Property Organization.

Article 4: CEPIG, which shall be under the authority of the Ministry responsible for

industry, shall comprise a directorate­general and an accounts agency.

The directorate­general shall consist of:

­ the department of patents and legal coordination;

­ the department of distinctive signs;

­ the department of technical information and international relations;

­ the department of administrative and financial affairs.

Article 5: CEPIG shall be directed by a Director­General, appointed by a decree adopted

by the Council of Ministers, on the basis of a proposal of the Minister responsible for

industry, from among officials of category A, rank A1, in the general administration, the

economic and financial administration or the corps of engineers, with at least five years'

professional experience in industrial property management.

Article 6: Provisions relating to the organization of CEPIG, other than those set out in

the present Law, and its operating arrangements shall be established by decree.

Article 7: Measures of all kinds necessary for the implementation of the present Law

shall be laid down, where necessary, in regulations.

Article 8: The present Law, which shall repeal all earlier conflicting provisions, shall be

registered, published under emergency procedures and enforced as the law of the land.

Done at Libreville, January 28, 2003

By the President of the Republic,

Head of State

El Hadj OMAR BONGO

The Prime Minister

Head of the Government

Jean­François NTOUTOUME­EMANE

Minister of State, The Minister of Trade and Industrial Development, responsible for

Regional Integration

Jean Remy PENDY BOUYIKI

Minister of State, The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Francophonie

Jean PING

The Minister responsible for Relations with Parliament, Government spokesperson

René NDEMEZO OBIANG

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The Minister of Culture and the Arts, responsible for Public Education

Pierre AMOUGHE MBA

The Minister of the Civil Service, Administrative Reform and State Modernization

Pascal Désiré MISSONGO

Minister of State, The Minister of Economy, Finance, Budget and Privatization

Paul TOUNGUI