EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd, Mariam Rabie, Mohamed Selim and Abdelaziz Mohamed, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
a distinctive appearance characterised by novelty and capable of industrial use. The Intellectual Prop - erty Law provides that the period of protection of the industrial design or model is ten years starting from the date of submitting the application for registration in Egypt. Protection is renewed for another five years if the owner of the design or model submits an appli - cation for renewal within the final year of the term. However, the owner has the right to apply for renewal within three months following the date of expiry of the protection period, otherwise the registration shall be cancelled. The Intellectual Property Law stipulates that the reg - istration of the industrial design or model grants the owners exclusive rights to prevent others from manu - facturing, selling, or importing products that take the form of such design or model or include it. The right to prevent third parties from importing, selling, or distrib - uting the aforementioned products shall be exhausted if the owner markets those products in any country or licences others to do so. 7.4 Copyright Copyright constitutes the rights granted to authors and artists regarding their creative works under the Intellectual Property Law. A variety of works are pro - tected by copyright under the aforementioned Law, including computer software, databases, advertise - ments, geographic maps, and technical drawings in addition to books, music, oil paintings, sculptures, and films. Copyright protection extends only to expres - sions and not to ideas, procedures, and methods of operation or mathematical concepts. Moreover, there are neighbouring rights which are known as copyright-associated rights, and which enable innovators to spread their ideas and publish their works by providing performers, sound recording companies, and broadcasting organisations with legal protection. The protection of copyright and related rights extends to Egyptians and foreigners, both natu - ral and legal persons, belonging to one of the member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Under the aforementioned article, protection is granted: • for performers: if one of the following conditions is met:
According to the Intellectual Property Law No 82 of 2002 (the “Intellectual Property Law”), the following conditions must be met for an invention to be granted
a patent: • novelty; • inventive step; and • capability of economic exploitation.
The owner of the patented innovation has the right to prohibit others from using, making, selling, or import - ing the patent commercially once it has been regis - tered. Generally, patent protection is valid for 20 years from the date of filing the application. 7.2 Trade Marks According to the Intellectual Property Law, a trade - mark is a logo, mark, word or any visually perceptible sign that is used by a certain person, company, or group to differentiate their products and/or services from others in the market. In accordance with the Intellectual Property Law, the trademark registration serves simply as a kind of ownership evidence that can be challenged. The first use of the mark in the market establishes ownership of the trademark in accordance with Egyptian law and as established and confirmed by precedent. According to the Intellectual Property Law, the trade - mark’s protection period spans ten years, and can be extended for similar durations upon request by the owner during the final year of each protection period, provided that the corresponding registration fee is paid. However, if the owner fails to apply for renew - al within six months after the protection period has ended, they can still apply for a renewal by paying the prescribed fee and an additional fee determined by the executive regulations of the Intellectual Property Law, not exceeding EGP500, otherwise the trademark shall be deleted. 7.3 Industrial Designs According to the Intellectual Property Law, an indus - trial design is any arrangement of lines and each ste - reoscopic shape, with or without colours if it takes
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