– Industrial Property Law No. 17-97 (Dahir of 15/2/2000), in force since December 18, 2004, amended by Act 31-05 of February 20, 2006.
– Decree of June 7, 2004, published June 17, 2004.
– Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), since October 1, 2011.
– Law No. 11-12 approving the Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification of March 24, 1971, published in the Official Bulletin No. 6140 dated April 4, 2013.
– Industrial Property Law No. 23-13 (Dahir of 21/11/2014), in force since December 18, 2014.
– Regulations for implementing Law No. 23-13, in force since January 15, 2015.

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since July 27, 1971.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since October 8, 1999.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms, since July 20, 2011.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since August 14, 2016.

Validation of a European Patent: possible in Morocco since March 1, 2015.

Applicant: the patent is issued in the name of the person or the company filing the patent.

Foreigners and nationals not living in the country: must appoint a resident industrial property attorney registered by OMPIC.

Naming of inventor(s): not required.

Types of patents: patents of invention.

Patentable inventions: the invention of new industrial products; the invention of new methods or new ways of applying methods already used to obtain some industrial product; pharmaceutical compositions and remedies as well as processes and apparatus for their production can be protected.

Novelty: invention must be new (must not have received sufficient publicity in Morocco or abroad to enable it to be put into practice).

Novelty grace period: twelve months.

Exceptions to protection: (1) credit and financial plans or combinations; (2) discoveries and inventions contrary to public order, public security or good morals; (3) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; aesthetic creations; schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers; (4) therapeutical, diagnostic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals; (5) new plant varieties.

Priority: according to Paris Convention. Claim to priority must be declared at the time of filing; certified copy is required; no charge for this declaration. 

Territory covered: IP protection covers the whole Moroccan territory.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Specification, 1 copy in French or Arabic with claims and a succinct statement;
2. Drawings on white paper, format A4 (21 x 29.7 cm);
3. Certified priority document, if necessary.

Note: a power of attorney is no longer required for filing an application.

Electronic filing: available.

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

For transfer:
1. Power of attorney (not legalized);
2. Extract of the transfer deed, signed by the two parties and legalized by a Moroccan Consulate or certified by Notary Public.

For a change of name:
1. A certificate issued by the Registry of Commerce evidencing the change of name (notarized);
2. Power of attorney in the new name (not legalized).

For a change of address:
1. Power of attorney with the new address (not legalized).

PCT application: time limit for entering the national phase under both Chapters I and II: 31 months. Requirements for a PCT application: copy of the first page of the PCT publication; translation into French of the specification and abstract (with translated amended claims if any).

European patent application: since March 1, 2015 it is possible to request validation of European patent applications and patents in Morocco (including PCT applications containing a designation for a European patent) conferring essentially the same protection as patents granted by the EPO. As soon as a patent is validated in Morocco, the Moroccan Law is applicable. European patent validation requirements: (a) appointment of a national professional representative is required; (b) only the claims must be presented within three months after the date of notification for granting of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin. The subject deadline can be extended for two more months against payment of a supplementary tax; (c) the annuity fees due at validation are payable after the date of the patent publication in Morocco.

Examination: a preliminary search report accompanied by an opinion on patentability to appreciate the novelty, the inventive step and the industrial application of the invention is prepared by a patent examiner specialist in the technical field of the invention. The report cites the prior art, that is to say, it establishes a list of documents related to the invention which have been made available to the public before the filing date of the application for a patent. The report is accompanied by an opinion on the patentability of the invention. 

Amendments: possible, for justified reasons, to remove errors such as linguistic errors, or errors of transcription; alterations are accepted only to correct evident errors.

Divisions: possible at any time before registration in case of violation of the principle of unity. Divisional applications benefit from the same filing date (or priority date, if any) as the original application. 

Secrecy: the invention is kept secret until delivery of the Letters Patent.

Objections: the request is rejected by the Office if the invention is not considered as such in terms of the Law, or is not legally registrable, or not susceptible of industrial applications, or concerns several inventions or a plurality of inventions not linked together.

Prior user disputes: solved at the courts.

Publication: eighteen months as of the filing date of the request in Morocco or of the priority date.

Delivery of document: the Letters Patent is issued in electronic format.

Beginning of protection: from the filing date of the application, or the priority date as the case may be.

Duration: twenty years as of the filing date in Morocco or of the international filing date for national phase of PCT applications.

Extension of duration: possible (a) to compensate for unreasonable delays that occur in granting the patent, i.e. the issuance of the patent more than four years from the date of filing the application; or (b) any pharmaceutical product that is subject to a patent, in order to compensate the patent owner for unreasonable reduction of the effective patent term as a result of the marketing approval process (SPC). The duration of the SPC is equal to the period between the date of expiry of the scheduled delay to obtain the marketing authorization and the effective date of its grant, but for a maximum of two and a half years.

Marking of patented goods: not compulsory, but advisable.

Annuities: are due after granting. 

Annuity grace period: six months with a surcharge.

Working: is compulsory within three years from the grant of the patent or four years from the filing date of the application; importation and/or sale in Morocco is considered as acceptable working.

Compulsory licenses: may be granted upon request of any third party in case of non-use during three years, or if the patentee was unwilling to grant a voluntary license to exploit the patent under reasonable conditions, or if required by public interest in the area of health, or if required by State defense. Compulsory license can only be non-exclusive. Any qualified person may apply for a compulsory license; such license may be issued by Public Health authorities with regard to patents granted for medicines or for processes for obtaining medicines, for products necessary for obtaining such medicines or for processes for manufacturing such products, if the interest of public health requires. Compulsory licenses may be issued by any competent authority to meet the needs of the national economy: (a) after unsuccessful request to the patent holder to exploit it; (b) at the request of the national defense authority and for the purposes of national defense. The State can get, at its own initiative, at any time a license for the exploitation of an invention, subject of a patent application or a patent.

Amendment of issued patent: not provided for.

Validation of invalidated patents: possible.

Reinstatement of rights: possible if the applicant files an appeal within three months from the notification of the loss of rights provided that legitimate reasons are submitted to the Office.

Opposition: must be submitted to the courts of Morocco.

Nullification: only after law proceedings initiated by any interested party and only for patents filed after December 18, 2004, for non-payment of due annuities.

Assignment – license: possible; should be recorded in order to be effective against third parties.

Infringement of the patent right shall give rise to civil or criminal liability on the part of the infringer. Infringement proceedings shall be barred after three years as from the date on which the infringement was committed.

Penalties: provided for.