(3) Failure to present any one of the documents mentioned above within the time limit
shall automatically entail, for the application under consideration, loss of the benefit of the
priority right claimed.
(4) Any document that reaches the Organization more than six months after the filing
of the patent application shall be declared inadmissible.
Article 17
Unacceptability Due to Non-Payment
No filing shall be acceptable if the application is not accompanied by a document
attesting payment of the application and publication fees.
Article 18
Filing Date
(1) The Organization shall grant as the filing date the date of receipt of the application,
written in one of its working languages, by the Ministry responsible for industrial property or
by the Organization, provided that, at the time of receipt, the application contains
(a) an express or implicit indication that the grant of a patent is requested;
(b) information whereby the identity of the applicant may be established;
(c) a part which, at first sight, purports to be the description of an invention and one or
more claims;
(d) proof of payment of the prescribed fees.
(2) The filing date of an international application shall be that assigned to it by the
receiving Office.
Section II
Grant of Patents
Article 19
Transmittal of the Patent Application to OAPI
(1) Immediately after the statement of filing has been made out on the prescribed form
and within five working days of the filing date, the Ministry responsible for industrial
property shall transmit to the Organization, as provided in Article 11, the package sent by the
applicant containing, in duplicate, the description of the invention, the claim or claims
defining the scope of the protection sought, any drawings that may be necessary for the
understanding of the invention and the descriptive abstract summarizing the description,
enclosing with them one original and one copy of the statement, the documents attesting
payment of the fees and the power of attorney where applicable.
(2) The Organization shall open the package as defined in the foregoing paragraph; it
shall enter the application in the Register of Patent Applications, undertake the examination
thereof and grant the patent where appropriate, as far as possible in the order of receipt of
applications.
Article 20
Examination of Applications
(1) Any application for a patent shall undergo examination to ensure that