Country Data
| Official Name: | Arab Republic of Egypt |
|---|---|
| Capital: | Cairo |
| Area: | 1,010,408 sq km |
| Population: | 101,576,517 (2021 estimate) |
| Official Language: | Arabic (official) |
| GDP: | US$1.391 trillion (PPP, 2020 estimate) |
| Currency: | Egyptian pound (E£) |
| Work Days: | Sunday – Thursday |
Conventions/ Treaties
- Paris Convention (since July 1, 1951)
- Hague Agreement (since July 1, 1952)
- Madrid Agreement (Indications of Source) (since July 1, 1952)
- Madrid Agreement (Marks) (since July 1, 1952)
- WIPO Convention (since April 21, 1975)
- Strasbourg Agreement (since October 17, 1975)
- The Berne Convention (since June 7, 1977)
- Phonograms Convention (since April 23, 1978)
- Nairobi Treaty (since October 1, 1982)
- Washington Treaty (ratified on July 26, 1990)
- Cultural Charter for Africa (since September 19, 1990)
- WTO/ TRIPS Agreement (since June 30, 1995)
- Trade Mark Law Treaty (since October 7, 1999)
- Patent Cooperation Treaty (since September 6, 2003)
- Nice Agreement (since June 18, 2005)
- Madrid Protocol (since September 3, 2009)
- UPOV Convention (since December 1, 2019)
National Legislation
- Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Book Two pertaining to Marks, Trade Names, Geographical Indications and Industrial Designs
Basic Information
| Creation of rights: | First-to-file jurisdiction (subject to occasional exceptions) |
|---|---|
| Basis for filing: | Intent to use acceptable – prior use is not a prerequisite. |
| Well-known marks: | Well-known marks are entitled to protection even if the same are not registered in Egypt. Nevertheless, local registration of the mark is recommended. |
| Types of marks: | Trademarks, Service marks, Certification marks, Collective marks |
| Priority: | 6-month priority claim under the Paris Convention |
| Madrid System: | Available – Egypt is a member of the Madrid Union |
| Filing system: | Single class (multiple class filing is not available). |
| Classification: | Nice Classification 10th edition |
| Who can be Applicant: | (1) Corporate/ business entities and (2) individuals/ natural persons. |
| Examination: | On formal, absolute and relative grounds |
| Publication: | The Gazette of Trademarks and Industrial Designs |
| Opposition period: | 60 days from the date of publication |
| Duration of registration: | 10 years from the filing date – renewable for further periods of 10 years each upon request of the trademark owner within one year preceding the expiry date |
| Renewal grace period: | 6 months, subjected to payment of late renewal penalty fee |
| Use requirement: | A trademark registration becomes vulnerable to cancellation upon the request of an interested party in case of non-use of the mark for a period of 5 consecutive years. |
| Registration timeframe (straightforward case): | 16 to 20 months (approximately) |
Search
| Official Search: | Available for i) word marks; and ii) device marks |
|---|---|
| Scope of search: | Includes all applied-for and registered marks, whether national marks or international marks |
| Turnaround time: | 5 working days |
Ways to obtain protection
- Filing of national application with or without priority claim under the Paris Convention
- Applications under the Madrid System
Filing Requirements
New Applications
- Power of Attorney from the Applicant; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- Certified copy of the Certificate of Incorporation (if the applicant is a corporate entity), duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- Certified copy of the priority document, if priority is claimed.
Renewal of Registration
- Power of Attorney from the proprietor; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- A simple copy of certificate of registration of the mark.
Change of Name / Address Recordation
- Power of Attorney in the new name/ address of the owner; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- Certified copy of Certificate of Change of Name/ Address of the owner; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
Assignment Recordation
- Power of Attorney from the Assignee; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- Certified copy of the Certificate of Incorporation or Extract from the Commercial Register relating to the Assignee; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- Assignment document; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
Merger Recordation
- Power of Attorney from the surviving entity – duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- Merger document – duly legalized up to the Egyptian consulate.
- Certified copy of the Certificate of Incorporation or Extract from the Commercial Register relating to the Assignee; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
License Recordation
- Powers of attorney from the Licensor and the Licensee – duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- License agreement signed by both the parties – duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- A simple copy of Certificate of Incorporation of the licensee or an Excerpt from the Commercial Register relating thereto; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
National Legislation
- Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Book One pertaining to Patents and Utility Models, Layout -Designs for Integrated Circuits, and Undisclosed Information
Ways to obtain patent protection:
- National Filing in Egypt
- PCT national phase application in Egypt
Basic Information
| Claims admissible for: | 1) Process; and 2) Product |
|---|---|
| Novelty requirement: | Absolute |
| Convention priority: | Available (12 months) |
| PCT national phase entry deadline: | 30 months |
| Search: | Possible by title and name of the patentee. |
| Examination: | With respect to form, novelty, inventiveness, industrial applicability, unity, and compliance |
| Publication: | After substantive examination and prior to grant |
| Opposition period: | 60 days from the date of publication in the Patent Gazette. |
| Protection term (patent): | 20 years from the filing date and in case of the PCT national phase applications, from the international filing date. |
| Protection term (utility model): | 7 years from filing date. |
| Annuity payment: | Becomes due annually on the anniversary of the filing date and payable prior to grant. For patents filed under the PCT, annuity payment becomes due on the anniversary of the international filing date and payable prior to grant. |
| Grace period for late annuity payment: | 12 months with surcharge. |
| Working/ Compulsory License: | If the patent is not fully exploited by the patentee within three years from the date of grant or four years from the filing date, whichever comes later, the patent will be subject to compulsory licensing in accordance with the legal provisions. |
| Patent grant timeframe (straightforward case): | 4 to 5 years (approximately). |
Filing Requirements
- Patent specification, claims, drawings, and abstract in English;
- Arabic translation of the title and abstract;
- Verified Arabic translation of the patent specification, claims, drawings and abstract;
- Power of Attorney from the applicant, duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate;
- Certificate of Incorporation or excerpt from the Commercial Register related to the applicant, duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate (not required for the PCT applications);
- Assignment of Invention and priority rights, executed by the inventor(s) if the applicant is not the inventor, duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate;
- Certified copy of the priority document, if applicable.
Note:
- Items 1 and 2 are necessarily required at the time of filing.
- Item 7 may be submitted within 3 months from the filing date.
- Items 4, 5, and 6 may be submitted within 4 months from the filing date.
- Item 3 may be submitted within 6 months from the date of filing.
National Legislation
- Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Book Two pertaining to Marks, Trade Names, Geographical Indications and Industrial Designs
Ways to obtain protection for design:
- National filing in Egypt
Basic Information
| Types of designs: | (1) Drawings; and (2) models. |
|---|---|
| Novelty: | Novelty is a prerequisite for the designs to be afforded registration. |
| Multiple figures: | An application may comprise up to 50 designs provided that all such designs form one coherent unit. |
| Convention priority: | 6-month priority may be claimed. |
| Locarno Classification: | Not applied formally. |
| Examination: | Industrial design applications are subjected to examination as to for and novelty. |
| Publication: | Design applications are published in the Gazette of Trademarks and Industrial Designs before issuance of registration certificate. |
| Opposition: | Possible within 60 days from the date of publication. |
| Protection term: | 10 years from the filing date; further renewable once for a 5-year term. |
| Renewal grace period: | 3 months. |
| Registration timeframe (straightforward case): | 16 to 20 months (approximately). |
Filing Requirements
- Power of Attorney from the applicant with verified Arabic translation; duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate.
- Certified copy of the Certificate of Incorporation (if the applicant is a corporate entity), duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate. Verified Arabic translation of the document would also be required, if the same is in any other language.
- Assignment deed duly executed by the creator/ author of the design in favor of the applicant, duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate. Verified Arabic translation of the document would also be required, if the same is in any other language.
- Certified copy of the priority document, if priority is claimed. Verified Arabic translation of the document would also be required, if the same is in any other language.
- Representations (drawings/ photographs) of the design.
- Description of the design in Arabic or with verified Arabic translation.
National Legislation
- Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Book Three pertaining to Copyright and related Rights
Basic Information
- Works protected: The copyright protection under the Egyptian Copyright Law specifically covers: Books, booklets, articles, bulletins and any other written works; computer programs; databases, whether readable by computer or otherwise; lectures, speeches, sermons and any other oral works when recorded; dramatic and dramatic-musical works, and pantomimes; musical works with or without words; audiovisual works; works of architecture; works of drawings with lines or colors, sculpture, lithography, printing on textile and any other similar works of fine arts; photographic and similar works; works of applied and plastic arts; illustrations, maps, sketches and three-dimensional works relating to geography, topography or architectural designs; derivative works, without prejudice to the protection prescribed for the works from which they have been derived. Protection shall cover also the title of the work if it is inventive.
- Exceptions to copyright protection: The following are specifically excluded from copyright protection: mere ideas, procedures, systems, operational methods, concepts, principles, discoveries and data, even when expressed, described, illustrated or included in a work; official documents, regardless of their source or target language, such as laws, regulations, resolutions and decisions, international conventions, court decisions, award of arbitrators and decisions of administrative committees having judicial competence; news on current events which are mere press information.
- Duration of copyright: Copyright protection term is 50 years following the death of the author, in addition to the lifetime thereof.
- Registration timeframe: 3 to 5 months (approximately).
Requirements
- Power of Attorney from the applicant – duly legalized up to the Egyptian Consulate;
- Original sample of the work;
