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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