The African Intellectual Property Organization (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle), commonly branded by its French acronym (OAPI) is composed of 16 (sixteen) west and Central African countries that are former French colonies. The member states are: Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad, Togo and Equatoria Guinea.