EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd, Farida Rezk, Omar Aboul-Ella, Mariam Rabie and Mohamed Selim, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
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 estab - lished and confirmed by precedent. According to the Intellectual Property Law, the trademark’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 cor - responding registration fee is paid. However, if the owner fails to apply for renewal 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 Design According to the Intellectual Property Law, an industrial design is any arrangement of lines and each stereoscopic shape, with or without col - ours if it takes a distinctive appearance charac - terised by novelty and capable of industrial use. The Intellectual Property Law provides that the period of protection of the industrial design or model is ten years starting from the date of sub - mitting the application for registration in Egypt. Protection is renewed for another five years if the owner of the design or model submits an application 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, oth - erwise the registration shall be cancelled.
The Intellectual Property Law stipulates that the registration of the industrial design or model grants the owners exclusive rights to prevent others from manufacturing, 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 distributing the aforementioned products shall be exhausted if the owner markets those products in any coun - try 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 protected by copyright under the aforementioned Law, including com - puter software, databases, advertisements, geo - graphic maps, and technical drawings in addi - tion to books, music, oil paintings, sculptures, and films. Copyright protection extends only to expressions 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 protec - tion of copyright and related rights extends to Egyptians and foreigners, both natural 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 condi - tions is met: (a) if the performance takes place in a mem - ber state of the WTO; (b) if the performance is captured in sound recordings, the producer of which be -
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