– 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 5, 2004, published June 17, 2004.
– Law No. 25-06 relating to distinctive signs of origin and food quality (Dahir No. 1-08-56 of May 23, 2008), in force since January 1, 2009.
– Decrees No. 2-08-403 and No. 2-08-404 of December 5, 2008.
– Law No. 32-12 approving the Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks of June 12, 1973, as amended on October 1, 1985, published in the Official Bulletin No. 6166 of July 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.
– Madrid Agreement for the International Registration of Marks, Stockholm Act.
– Nice Agreement for the International Classification of Goods and Services, Stockholm Act, since October 1, 1966.
– Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods, Lisbon Act.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, since October 8, 1999.
– Trademark Law Treaty, since July 6, 2009.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since August 14, 2016.
– Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, since July 22, 2022.

Applicant: may be an individual or a company.

Resident representative: applicants not living in Morocco must appoint a resident industrial property attorney registered by OMPIC.

Kinds of trademarks: names in a distinctive form, designations, emblems, seals, stamps, vignettes, reliefs, letters, figures, wrappers, sound and smell marks, figurative marks including three-dimensional marks, and all other signs giving distinctiveness to the products of factories, industries, trades and agricultural enterprises, and also undertakings connected with forestry and extractive industries.

Service marks: registrable.

Certification marks: registrable.

Geographical names and appellations of origin: protectable unless deceptive or not in conformity with the conditions of registration as prescribed by Law No. 25-06.

Exceptions to protection: (1) national decorations and emblems, especially the royal crests and Solomon’s seal, and all imitations of these; state emblems, official hallmarks and emblems of intergovernmental organizations pursuant to Article 6ter of the Paris Convention; (2) coins and banknotes, Moroccan, French or foreign; all emblems of this kind; (3) images or representations contrary to public order or morality; (4) signs, national seals and official stamps of control and of guarantee, controlled appellations of origin.

Collective trademarks: associations, syndicates or government offices can obtain a collective trademark.

Claiming of priority: declaration of priority must be made at the time of filing; the Administration of Morocco requires the registration certificate or due registration in the country of origin.

Search for priority: can be made on the spot by a resident representative.

Classification: International Classification of 45 classes (the 11th Edition of the Nice Classification). 

Multi-class applications: permitted. 

Territory covered: IP protection covers the whole Moroccan territory.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. List of goods for which the mark is to be registered, classified according to the International Classification;
2. 4 prints and 4 additional colored samples if colors are claimed.

Late filing of documents: possible; missing documents must be submitted within three months, otherwise the application is rejected. Priority documents to be submitted within four months.

Note: a power of attorney is no longer required for filing an application nor renewals.

Official fees for applications or renewals are payable for each and every class.

Electronic filing: available. 

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

For renewal:
No documents are required.

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

Examination: formal and substantive examination. 

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

Disclaimers: not available.

Letters of consent: not accepted.

Rights of prior user: provided for. Only registration confers property rights.

Beginning of protection: from the filing date which is also the date of registration. 

Registration certificate: as of May 28, 2018, certificates are issued electronically. 

Duration of protection: ten years from the filing date.

Renewals: indefinitely for like periods, to be requested within the last six months of validity. Renewals are only possible in exactly the same form as the mark was registered.

Latest term for renewal: within six months following the expiry of the protection period.

Opposition: any interested person may file observations within two months from the date of publication of the application in the Official Bulletin.

Use: compulsory. Non-use during a period of five years may render the registration vulnerable to a cancellation action introduced by an interested third party. Use by a licensee is considered as valid use if the license agreement is recorded in the Register. Affixing a trademark to goods or to their packaging solely for export purposes is also considered as valid use. Renewal or publication of advertisements or use in a local fair are not considered as valid use.

Annulment of registration: a nullification action must be instituted before a court.

Assignment: should be recorded in order to be effective against third parties.

License: recordal is no longer compulsory.

Infringement: civil or penal action is available against the infringer. The time limit for filing an action against an infringing mark is five years as of its registration date. For an action against a mark filed in bad faith the time limit is three years of its registration date.

Penalties: provided for.

Custom provisions: if the owner of a registered mark has good reasons to believe that goods unlawfully bearing the mark are imported or exported, he may file an appropriate request with the custom’s authorities to monitor suspect shipments and further request seizure of the goods. These boarder measures will also apply to the geographical indications and appellations of origin.