Patent registration in Egypt. Egypt is an intercontinental country with most of its territory in North Africa, along with the Sinai Peninsula in Western Asia. Egypt is a market seen by national companies as a key player in the Middle East and North Africa region. Egypt’s economy depends mainly on agriculture, intermediaries, oil exports, and tourism. Egypt is considered to be a regional power in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Muslim world, and a middle power worldwide. It is a developing country, ranking 116th on the Human Development Index. It has a diversified economy, which is the second-largest in Africa, the 33rd-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the 20th-largest globally by PPP. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Egypt.
Patent in Egypt
A patent in Egypt is an exclusive right granted for an invention for a limited period of time.
When becoming the owner of a patent, the patentee will have the exclusive rights to commercially exploit the invention, from making, selling, or transferring the rights of the patent to other parties, etc.
The rights to a patent or rights to be protected, patent protection means that the invention cannot be commercially made, used, distributed, or sold without the patent owner’s consent. If there are infringement actions made by third parties, the rights holders can hold them responsible in court.
An invention can be patentable if it is a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
An invention must be of practical use and it must show an element of novelty, along with the proof of an inventive step.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Egypt
The necessary documents for patent registration in Egypt include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
To claim priority, an applicant needs to file for patent registration in Egypt within 12 months from the priority date.
This term may be extended for 2 additional months provided that the applicant can provide evidence showing that the delay was unintentional.
If the applicant is not the inventor, a Deed of Assignment should be filed with the application or within 4 months from the filing date.
The procedure for patent registration in Egypt
To obtain a patent in Egypt, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the IP Office of Egypt.
After receiving the patent application, the examiners at the IP Office will conduct a thorough formal and substantive examination to check if the application complies with the requirement of the law and it is patentable.
If there are no errors detected in the application the subject of the patent application in Egypt is patentable, the grant decision will be issued and the applicant will receive the patent after a period of time.
Although the official grant fee is not stipulated for the Egyptian patents, the patentee needs to pay the annuities yearly to maintain the validity of the patent that may last for 20 years from the filing date.
Annuities are due from the 2nd year. Late payment is possible within 1 year by paying a corresponding surcharge.
You can find a list of Egypt IP firms here.