– Intellectual Property Rights Law No. 82 of June 2, 2002, and Implementing Regulations of August 17, 2003.

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since July 1, 1951.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since April 21, 1975.
– Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, since October 17, 1975.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since June 30, 1995.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since September 6, 2003.

Applicant: the inventor or his assignee, either alone or jointly with any other party (an enterprise cannot figure as inventor).

Foreigners and nationals not living in the country: must appoint a patent attorney registered in Egypt as address for service.

Protection of foreigners: protection is provided for foreigners residing in Egypt or having an industrial or commercial establishment in Egypt as well as foreigners belonging to or residing in, or having a real domicile in a member country of the World Trade Organization or a country that grants Egypt the same treatment.

Naming of inventor(s): compulsory for all applications.

Notion of the invention: new creation industrially exploitable, whether in connection with new industrial products, new industrial processes and/or methods or new applications of known industrial processes or methods.

Novelty: is not recognized (a) if, before the date of filing the patent application, an application has already been submitted for issuing a patent of invention, or a patent has been issued for part or whole of the invention, in Egypt or abroad; or (b) if the invention has already been publicly used or exploited in Egypt or abroad.

Exceptions to protection (unpatentable inventions): (a) inventions use of which could be contrary to morality or public order; (b) scientific theories and discoveries, mathematical methods, programs and layouts; (c) diagnosis, therapeutic and surgical methods for man or animal; (d) plants, animals and biological processes for the production of plants or animals; with the exception of microorganisms and the non-biological and microbiological processes for the production of plant or animals; (e) living organisms, tissues, cells, natural biological materials, DNA and genomes.

Kinds of protection: patent of invention; utility models.

Secret patents: patents considered by the Patent Office to be of value for military or defense purposes may be barred from publication.

Priorities: single and multiple priorities are permissible.

Territory covered: Egypt.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney, legalized up to an Egyptian Consulate;
2. Certificate of Incorporation (if the applicant is a company), legalized up to an Egyptian Consulate (not needed in case of PCT or non-Convention applications);
3. 2 copies of the complete English or French specification and abstract for translation into Arabic;
4. 2 sets of formal drawings in black non-washable ink on good quality pressed white paper in foolscap dimensions with all references left in blank so that Arabic characters may be inserted;
5. International Convention: priority must be claimed on filing. Certified copy of the basic application must be filed within three months of filing application, together with an Arabic translation thereof. If assignee applies, legalized deed of assignment is required;
6. Legalized deed of assignment from the inventor to the applicant in non-Convention applications.

Note: the Arabic translation of the title and abstract shall be submitted upon filing the application; the rest of the translation of the complete specification can be filed later, within six months from the filing date; all other documents must have been translated into Arabic prior to filing. All legalized documents must be filed within four months from the filing date, except the priority document that must be filed within three months from the filing date (there is no need for filing the priority document if it is published on WIPO; the application will then be filed as a PCT application); no extension of time.

Electronic filing: available.

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures).

For a transfer of ownership/recordal of license:
1. Legalized power of attorney from the assignee or licensee;
2. Legalized deed of assignment or license;
3. Legalized extract from the Commercial Register or a certified copy of the Certificate of Incorporation of the assignee or licensee.

For a change of name or address:
1. Legalized power of attorney in the new name/address;
2. Official certificate attesting the change of name or address, legalized up to an Egyptian Consulate.

PCT applications: time limit for entering national phase under both chapters I and II: 30 months.

Amendments and alterations: amendments may be made to meet objections raised by an Examiner; amendments may also be requested by an applicant to modify the specification of the invention or its drawings provided that these do not affect the identity of the first filed invention, but if new matter is to be added, it should be the subject of a new patent application.

Interference: if the invention concerns defense affairs or is of military value, the Ministry of Defense may oppose the publication of the acceptance of the application within ninety days from the date of delivery, or oppose the application within ninety days from its publication.

Process claims: are acceptable.

Prior user: the law considers prior use as a bar to novelty regardless of good or bad intentions.

Disputes about ownership or novelty: litigated by filing of an opposition with the Patent Office at the time of publication, or in court at any time.

Extent of examination: (1) the proper form of the application and the bona fide of the applicant; (2) the technical authenticity of the description and drawings; (3) the novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability of the invention.

Division: possible before issuance of grant decision or before issuance of a rejection decision.

Application kept secret: until publication.

Opposition to application: possible within sixty days of the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Reasons and procedure for opposition: any interested party may oppose the application provided they give reasons for their opposition. The opposition shall be settled by a committee whose decision is liable to contestation within sixty days of notification before the Administrative Court.

Provisional protection: provided for inventions exhibited at national or international fairs for periods not exceeding six months.

Publication: takes place in the monthly Patent Journal, after acceptance. The charges for printing copies of the Arabic specification should be paid to the Patent Office within three months of the date of publication if no opposition is raised.

Registration: on the grant of the Letters Patent to the patentee.

Delivery of document: usually within two years from the date of filing.

Beginning of protection: from the date of filing (the beginning of protection is calculated from the international filing date regarding a PCT application and from the national filing date in Egypt regarding a national application).

Duration: twenty years, non-extendible.

Annuities: annual taxes are due on the patent from the second year of protection (international filing date for the PCT application and national filing date for the non-PCT application) until the expiration of its validity.

Annuity grace period: these annual taxes should be paid within one year from the due date with payment of a fine calculated as 7% of the due amount.

Marking of patented goods: not compulsory.

Amendment of issued patents: not possible.

Revocation: only by court judgment.

Assignment: may be made at any time during the life of the patent.

License for exploitation: must be recorded with the Patent Office in order to preserve the rights of the licensee and to avoid a compulsory license against the owner (licensor).

Working: compulsory; to be effected by manufacturing, importation or sales, or publication of offer to license within three years from the date of grant or within four years of the filing date and every two years thereafter.

Validation of invalidated patents: not possible.

Rights of prior user: by court action.

Oppositions to granted patents: by court action.

Compulsory licenses: (a) if an invention is not exploited in Egypt within three years from the date of granting or within four years of the filing date; or (b) if the patentee fails to exploit the invention effectively to meet the country’s needs; or (c) if the exploitation is stopped for at least two successive years, the Patent Office may grant a compulsory license for exploitation of the invention to any interested party, to whom the patentee has refused to grant the right of exploitation or on whom he has imposed unacceptable financial conditions, subject to suitable compensation. The Patent Office’s decision in this respect may be contested before the Administrative Court, within sixty days of the date of notification.

Expropriation: the minister is empowered to expropriate a patent for reasons of public utility or national defense purposes, subject to compensation of the patentee as estimated by a special committee. The estimation of the committee can be contested before the Administrative Court within sixty days of the date of notification.

Nullification: the Patent Office or any person concerned may apply to the Administrative Court to annul patents which are unpatentable by law or which violate the requirement of novelty. Any person may apply to the Patent Office for cancellation of patent for non-exploitation in Egypt within two years following the issue of a compulsory license.

Termination and cancellation: a patent shall be terminated for: (a) expiry of the protection period; (b) patentee’s waiving of his rights without any prejudice to the rights of the others; (c) a final judgment issued for the invalidation of the patent; (d) not paying the annuities; (e) non-exploitation of the invention within two years following the grant of the compulsory license; and (f) abusiveness of the patentee in the exploitation of his rights when compulsory license may not be sufficient to make up for such abusiveness.