IP Overview

Egypt is a signatory to the Paris Convention of the Protection of Intellectual Property and the Madrid Agreement regarding international registration of trademarks. Furthermore, Egypt is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The registered owners of intellectual property are provided with adequate protection. The following is a brief introduction of Egypt's IP.

Patent

The provisions of the Patent Law in Egypt stipulate that an application should be filed before the invention has become known prior to the filing date or the Priority date through publication or use worldwide. The Patent Office currently receives many published patents worldwide and stipulates absolute novelty when examining the patent. It takes an average of three years from the filing date for a patent application to mature into a granted patent. Annuities are to be paid every year as from the filing date of the application even before the patent is granted. However, according to the current patent law, there is a one-year grace period from the due date with a late fine to settle payment of an annuity.

A new patent law has been drafted recently. The new law, if approved, would extend the patent protection period to twenty years and widen the definition of an "invention" as protected by law. Unlike the current patent law, the draft law provides for a substantive examination of the patent application before granting the patent. The draft law also provides that not only the patentee but also any other party who introduced adjustments, improvements or additions to a patent invention shall have the right to apply and obtain an independent patent.

Trademark

Egypt is a party to the Madrid Agreement Concerning International Registration of Trademarks (Act of Stockholm of 1967) as from March 6, 1975. The international classification of goods and services (Nice Classification) for the purpose of registration of marks is followed in Egypt and the revision of class 42 with the creation of classes 43 to 45 has been adopted as of January 1, 2002.

Use of trademarks in Egypt is not compulsory for filing applications for registration or for maintaining trademark registrations in force. However, a trademark registration is vulnerable to cancellation on the strength of a court decision obtained to this effect, by any interested party. A cancellation action relies basically on establishing sufficient grounds that the trademark in question has not actually been used seriously for a period of five consecutive years. A trademark registration is consequently canceled unless the owner proves that non-use of the trademark was for reasonable cause of which the court approves. The Trademark Office or any party concerned is entitled to demand cancellation of any trademark registered in bad faith.

Copyright

Egypt is a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works as of June 7, 1977. The Copyright Law, No. 354 of 1954, provides copyright protection for original works of literature, art and science, regardless of type, importance or purpose. Such works are protected for the lifetime of the author, plus 50 years following his/her death.

A 1992 amendment to the Copyright Law stiffened the penalties available under the Copyright Law and also provides for protection of video tapes. A 1994 amendment to the Copyright Law treats computer software as a literary work and guarantees it a fifty year term of protection. Protection under the Copyright Law terminates fifty years following the demise of the author.

Design

Designs and industrial models are protectable in Egypt through registration with the competent office. The international Classification of Designs is effective in Egypt.

A design or an industrial model registration is valid for ten years starting from the date of filing the application. A registration can be renewed once for an additional five years. A registration of a design or an industrial model is subject to cancellation in the event any interested party requests such a cancellation before the competent tribunal, on the grounds that the subject design or industrial model was not novel at the time of filing the relevant application.

The Trade Registry Department may, when public interest so requires and subject to the approval of a ministerial committee established by a decision of Prime Minister upon submission by the competent minister, allow an exclusive license for the exploitation of the protected industrial design against fair competition.