Think About Intellectual Property When Investing in Egypt
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Think About Intellectual Property When Investing in Egypt
Egypt has the second-largest population in Africa, as well as the third-largest economy, with a population growth rate of 2.25 percent. The Egyptian government supports investment in all economic areas, and in some of them, it is already a regional leader. Egypt, for example, is Africa’s largest construction industry, with more than $350 billion in current projects.
The real estate industry accounts for little under half (48%) of all active projects. With 18 percent and 17 percent of current projects, respectively, the energy and transportation industries come in second and third.
Egypt is racing to construct an attractive new capital city east of Cairo amid the desert. This $58 billion project, which is expected to be completed in 2023, will benefit the residential, commercial, government, universities, entertainment, leisure, and transportation sectors.
The number of registered trademarks is growing
International applications in Africa grew by 24% in 2019, with Egypt placing third, demonstrating its prominence in North Africa. According to Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), the number of applications submitted to the Egyptian Trademark Office increased by 5.5 percent to 18,735 in 2020, up from 17,760 in 2019.
Along with the initiatives and new business possibilities described above, the growth in trademark applications in Egypt is likely to be much more noticeable.
This rise in the number of international trademark applications originating in Africa tends to indicate that more businesses are looking to protect their brands internationally.
The legal foundation is the Intellectual Property Rights Law No. 82 of July 2, 2002, which replaced the Trademark Law of 1939 and has been in effect since June 2003. Egypt is also a signatory to both the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol on the International Registration of Marks (Act of Stockholm of 1967).
The Egyptian trademarks agency, the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA), estimates that the procedure from application to registration will take 18 to 32 months. This procedure necessitates a legalized power of attorney up to an Egyptian consul, as well as a legalized certificate of incorporation with certified Arabic translation for companies.
The following are the steps to register a trademark in Egypt:
Submission of the request of the trademark registration to the ITDA;
The ITDA conducts a formal and substantial examination and issues an acceptance letter;
Payment for the application’s publishing in the IP Bulletin;
a two-month time for third parties who believe they will be affected by the trademark registration to file oppositions;
Registration costs are paid and a registration certificate is issued.
