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.