Egypt (EG)
03-10-2011 (Newsletter Issue 4/11)New Decisions of the Patent OfficeThe Egyptian Patent Office has recently issued two Ministerial decisions which are expected to be implemented shortly which stipulate that:
- It will not be possible to extend the 30-month time limit for entering the national phase under PCT Chapters I and II for an additional 3-month period upon payment of a substantial surcharge for late entry on the filing of a written request for such purpose as per the Ministerial Decree no. 23.
- The official fees for the examination will be increased from EGP 2,000 (approx. USD 338) to EGP 7,000 EGP (approx. USD 1,185) as per the stipulation of Ministerial Decree no. 22.
Source: JAH & CO. IP, Doha, Qatar 02-23-2011 (Newsletter Issue 3/11)
Trademark Office Operating Again
The Egyptian Intellectual Property Office has returned to its normal working routine as of February 15th, 2011 after a period of unrest in Egypt.
The Office has resumed their work and are again able to deliver their services without any delay.
Source: SABA & Co.
03-02-2010 (Newsletter Issue 8/10)Arabic Domain Passes ICANN EvaluationOn January 21, 2010, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Russia are the first four countries to meet a specific set of linguistic and technical requirements required under the ICANN’s IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) ccTLD Fast Track String Evaluation.
For more information please click here Legal basis is the Intellectual Property Rights Law No. 82 of July 2nd, 2002, in force since June 2003, which replaces the Trademark Law of 1939.
Egypt is a member of the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (Act of Stockholm of 1967) and a member of the Madrid Protocol.
Trademark protection is obtained by registration.
Nice classification, 10th edition
Registrable as a trademark is any sign capable of distinguishing the product or services of one undertaking from those of others, including distinctive names, signatures, words, letters, numerals, drawings, symbols, signboards of shops, fiscal and official stamps, pictures, protruded engravings, and combination of colours in a specific and distinctive form as well as any combination of such elements if being employed or needed to be employed for distinguishing products of an industrial process, agricultural or forestay exploitation, earth extracts, or any commodity, for indicating the origin, kind, category, guarantee or method of preparation of products or commodities or for indicating the performance of one of the services. In all cases, the trademark shall be visually perceptible.
The following trademark types are registrable: trade marks, service marks, collective marks and certification marks.
The application is filed at the Trademark Office.
A separate application is to be filed for each class of goods/services, as multi-class application is still not implemented in Egypt.
Foreign applicants need a local agent. A power of attorney authenticated by an Egyptian consulate is necessary. In addition a copy of the Extract from the Commercial Register of the applicant duly legalised by an Egyptian consulate abroad is also needed.
Tradesmen only may apply for trademarks.
Foreign applicants need a domestic registration.
The application process includes a formal examination, an examination of distinctiveness and a search for prior trademarks. Signs not deemed distinctive in the examination can be registered if distinctiveness has been acquired by use.
The processing time from first filing to registration is approx. 2 to 3 years.
After registration, the trademark is published in the “Official Gazette”.
National:
The opposition period is 60 days from the date of publication of acceptance.
Opposition against designation of IR Mark
(The period starts from the national publication date, if not stated differently):
6 months from the publication date in the WIPO Gazette.
A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from date of application. It is renewable for periods of 10 years.
The grace period for renewals is 6 months after the expiration date of the trademark.
If the trademark has not been used within 5 years from registration, it may be subject to cancellation.
Subsequent use of the trademark can restore protection if no party has requested cancellation due to non-use in the meantime.
The application fee is USD 10.00 (approx. EUR 8.00) per class.
Publication fee for one class is USD 20.00 (approx. EUR 15.00).
Registration of a mark is another USD 20.00 (approx. EUR 15.00).
Trademark Licence Agreement
In Egypt a licence has to be in writing. It is not permitted to license the use of unregistered trademarks. A proprietor can register a user in respect of only some of the goods or services for which the mark is registered, but this must be expressly mentioned in the agreement. The sale of a registered trademark automatically terminates the licence. There are no provisions prescribing the terms of licensing except that the conditions for termination of the contract must be stated in the agreement.
Recordal
There are provisions in law for the recordal of a licensee in the Trademark Register. The recordal of a licence is not mandatory but recommended to avoid any further letigation problems. There is no time frame for a recordal. There is no prescribed form for a licence agreement but it should be in writing and contain a time frame for the validity of the licence.
Further documents are required for a recordal:
1. A power of attorney, legalised up to the Egypt Consulate from the licensee
2. A legalised certificate of incorporation from the licensee
3. The legalised deed of the licence
Effectiveness
The licence becomes effective and enforceable against third parties from the date of filing the recordal of the licence. After being recorded the licence has to be published in the Official Gazette.
Infringement Proceedings
There is an evidentiary presumption that use by a recorded licensee is permitted use. The licensee may join the proprietor in infringement proceedings. He may also call upon the trademark owner to institute infringement proceedings but he may not institute proceedings in his own name if the proprietor refuses or neglects to do so. It is not required that the proprietor has to be cited as co-defendant in any such proceedings, unless otherwise provided in the contract.
| Search type |
First class |
Add. class |
| Word Mark Search (availability) |
230,00 € |
190,00 € |
| Word Mark Search (identical) |
210,00 € |
150,00 € |
| Extended Search (word mark, company name, domain) |
|
|
| Device Mark Search (availability) |
250,00 € |
230,00 € |
| Trademark Owner Search |
|
|
| Company Name Search |
340,00 € |
|
| Domain Name Search (extended) |
|
|
| i-Search (word mark availability + legal opinion) |
300,00 € |
280,00 € |
The Prices above are S.M.D. Markeur Search Fees
Country Index is a free service of S.M.D. Markeur, an international IP searching and monitoring firm.
We would like to thank the following law firms for their assistance in updating the information provided:
Country Survey
12-04-2012
Abu Ghazaleh Intellectual Property, Cairo, Egypt
10-30-2012
Egyptian Experts For IP, Giza, Egypt
01-23-2012
Egyptian Experts For IP, Giza, Egypt
Licensing
12-04-2012
Abu Ghazaleh Intellectual Property, Cairo, Egypt
11-22-2011
Abu Ghazaleh Intellectual Property, Cairo, Egypt
Grant Thornton Yafi & Co., Beirut, Lebanon