Is the application for the registration of the trademark presented directly in the country its protection is sought. The application is submitted to the corresponding National Office.
Generally speaking each country has an exclusive trademark register and its own legislation. However, there are some regions where the protection has particular characteristics, like, for example:
The Andean Community of Nations (CAN) is formed by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, as well as the bodies and institutions of the Andean Integration System (AIS). Amongst other matters it regulates the protection of trademarks. Although there is no common register for the four countries forming the Community when a new trademark application is submitted, any interested party with legitimate interest may present a duly justified opposition with the aim of preventing the registration of the trademark. Opposition may also be submitted both by the owner of an identical or similar trademark for products or services which may potentially be misleading for consumers, and by the first party to apply for the registration of that trademark in any of the member countries. In this case the opponent must prove its real interest in penetrating the market of the company in which notice of opposition has been filed and must simultaneously apply for the registration of the trademark identical to that which constitutes the basis for its opposition.
African Regional Industrial Property Organization: The registration of trademark through this treaty offers simultaneous protection in the following countries that are members of the Banjul Protocol regarding trademarks: Botswana, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Sao Tome and Principe, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Processing a trademark through the ARIPO implies the unification of the same in one single language, from the filing of the application to its concession.
African Intellectual Property Organization: This has competences in French-speaking African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The OAPI, whose headquarters are in Yaoundé (Cameroon), centralizes all the procedures for the protection of industrial property: one single register is valid for all member countries.