- Patent trademarks
- Patents
The patent application is filed with the National Industrial Property Service (SENAPIQ) in accordance with the procedures and containing the elements identified in the Law.
The patent expires 20 years after the date of filing.
SENAPIQ examines whether the Patent application meets the legal requirements and the Industry Director grants the patent whenever he verifies that all the conditions required by Law are met.
When the patented invention is not industrially exploited in São Tomé and Príncipe, the patent holder may be forced to accept the granting of mandatory licenses to anyone interested in this. To keep the patent in force, an annual fee must be paid in advance to SENAPIQ, starting from the expiration of the first year following the filing of the patent application.
- Brands
The application for a trademark is filed with the Director of Industry with the elements identified in the Industrial Property Law
- Fees
SENAPI charges the following fees for the services provided:
| Orders | Fees |
| Invention patents | 30 € |
| Models and industrial designs | 16 € |
| For each supplementary model included in the same application | 10 € |
| Product/service brands - by each class | 17 € |
| Collective mark for each class | 20 € |
| Name | 16 € |
| Denomination of origin | 26 € |
| Indications of provenance | 26 € |
- Sanctioning regime
Violation of the rules of the Industrial Property Law is punished under the terms of criminal legislation.
- Competent entity
SENAPIQ is competent, in particular, to process applications for the protection of inventions, designs and industrial models, as well as to provide, from published patent documents, information on existing techniques.
- Copyright
In São Tomé and Príncipe, Copyright enjoys the protection afforded by the Copyright Code approved by Decree-Law No. 02/2017.
Works are considered to be intellectual creations in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, externalized in any way, which, as such, are protected under the terms of the Copyright Code. This protection includes the rights of the respective authors.
Copyright rights encompass property rights and personal rights, known as moral rights. The copyright belongs to the intellectual creator of the work, unless otherwise stated, and is recognized regardless of registration, deposit or any other formality.
Denominations of Origin and Geographical Indications
The protection of designations of origin and geographical indications in the country is regulated by Decree-Law 21/2015 and Decree-Law No. 36/2014 creates the National Quality Council.