Essential Egyptian Trademark Application Information
Madrid Protocol member: Yes, Egypt is a member state of the Madrid System.
Paris Convention signatory: Yes, Egypt is a signatory to the Paris Convention.
ARIPO member: No, Egypt is not a member state of the ARIPO system.
OAPI member: No, Egypt is not a member state of the OAPI system.
Renewal term: Egyptian trademarks are subject to renewal every ten years.
Non-use period: Registered trademarks in Egypt may be deregistered on the grounds of non-use if they remain unused for five consecutive years.
Opposition period: Trademark applications in Egypt are subject to an opposition period of two months.
First-to-file jurisdiction: Yes, Egypt is a file-to-file jurisdiction.
Priority claim: Yes, applicants may claim conventional priority in Egypt within six months of filing a trademark application in its prior jurisdiction. To successfully claim priority, this prior jurisdiction must also be a signatory to the Paris Convention.
Application-to-Registration Term: Applicants can expect the registration process to obtain trademark rights in Egypt to occur over an approximately 18-month-long period.
Power of Attorney: Applicants using an agent firm to acquire trademark rights in Egypt must submit an executed Power of Attorney document, legalised by the Egyptian consulate, to supplement their application. If this Power of Attorney document is not in Arabic, an Arabic translation of the Power of Attorney must also accompany the legalised document.
In today's edition of our African Trademark Cheatsheet series, we're heading North of the continent to explore the trademark prosecution landscape in the Land of the Pyramids, Egypt.
Renowned for its expansive desert landscape, awe-inducing pyramids and significant religious and political heritage, Egypt has maintained its status as a prolific power player in the MENA region over the centuries. As a result, it is an essential entry on the bucket lists of any travel enthusiast worthy of their salt. As the cradle of civilisation and the historical birthplace of our science and innovation, Egypt retains its respect for innovation through, among other things, its protection and respect for intellectual property rights.
Applicants pursuing trademark protection in Egypt may do so via the multi-national Madrid IP Filing System or the national Egyptian trademark registration system. While Egypt is a party to the Madrid Agreement, it is not a member of the regional intellectual property filing systems known as OAPI and ARIPO.
National trademark law in Egypt is governed by Law No. 82 of 2002. This Act created a unified body of law that collectively regulates all major streams of intellectual property, such as trademark, patent, design and copyright law. In terms of trademark law, the Act updated the prior legislation in key areas, such as automatically granting rights equivalent to a registered trademark to unregistered well-known marks in the market, implementing trademark exhaustion principles, extending the grace period for trademark renewals, making provision for independent assignment of trademarks, engaging in reciprocal recognition of geographical indications emanating from fellow WTO member states, and providing an updated framework for prosecution of persons engaging in counterfeit practices. Over the years, the Act has continued to undergo refinement through enacting further Articles of Amendment.
For a mark to be registrable in Egypt, it must be visually perceptible and satisfy particular legislated requirements. Examples of the most common categories of trademark rights in Egypt are word marks, figurative or logo marks, slogans, service marks, collective marks, three-dimensional (3D) marks, number and letter marks and colour marks.
Egypt allows both individuals and legal entities to secure trademark rights within its market. Foreign applicants looking to register an Egyptian trademark must be from a WTO member state or countries with reciprocal agreements with Egypt. Additionally, foreign applicants with commercial or professional interests in Egypt must engage a local agent firm to handle the trademark registration process on their behalf.
Egyptian Trademark Registration Process
Egyptian trademark prosecution begins in the same format as most countries–with a trademark application. The application will include, among other things, the name and address of the applicant, the type of legal entity applying for a trademark and the desired classes to pursue for registration per the Nice Classification. It is important to note that Egypt allows multiclass trademark applications, enabling applicants to designate more than one Nice class for registration. This completed application form and prescribed application fee must be submitted to the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA) along with essential supporting elements, such as a representation of the trademark, a completed power of attorney document legalised up to the Egyptian consulate, proof of identity (for an individual, this will be a certified copy of their identity document), and a copy of the priority document if priority is to be claimed. All aforementioned documentation must be accompanied by a legalised translation of the original document if the original is not in Arabic.
The next step in the Egyptian trademark application process is examination. During this examination, the application will undergo a formal and substantive review. This stage of the application process may take a considerable amount of time to complete. At this stage, the ITDA may elect to either accept the trademark application, refuse the trademark application, or request modifications to the application for the trademark to become registrable. Such adaptations may be formal or substantive in nature. The ITDA will notify the applicant of any such requests and its final decision in writing. The applicant is required to respond to this communication within 30 days. Failure to respond may result in the ITDA rejecting the mark due to non-compliance. Should an applicant wish to appeal a decision made by the ITDA during the examination process, they may do so within the 30-day period following receipt of communication from the trademarks office. All appeals are reviewed by a panel of three persons who will make the final determination on the fate of the application.
Should your mark emerge from the examination process successfully, it will proceed to the publication or advertisement phase. At this stage, the applicant's mark and relevant information relating to it will be published in the national Gazette of Trademarks and Industrial Designs for a 60-day period. During this period, the mark will be open to opposition by interested parties who would like to contest the validity of the mark. Interested parties are required to submit opposition applications to the ITDA, which set out their reasoning for contending the mark's registration. Upon receipt, the ITDA will forward this document to the applicant for review and response. The applicant will have 30 days following receipt ofthis correspondence to submit their response to the arguments raised by the interested party. The ITDA will then review both submissions and make its decision from there. If an applicant fails to submit their response within the 30-day period, it will be assumed that they have no defence, and their trademark application will be withdrawn accordingly.
In the happy event that the applicant's mark passes the publication stage unchallenged or successfully overcomes any challenges, it will be formally registered in Egypt. Once a trademark is registered in Egypt, a notice of registration of the mark is published in the Gazette of Trademarks and Industrial Designs, and the applicant is issued with a Certificate of Registration within approximately 18 months from the filing date. This process may, however, take longer than expected due to bureaucratic delays.
Following registration of your Egyptian trademark, renewal of your trademark rights will be due every ten years from its filing date to maintain the presence of these trademark rights in the region. Renewal is typically processed within the 12 months leading up to the tenth anniversary of filing. Trademark renewal requires payment of a renewal fee, submission of a renewal application and a legalised power of attorney document. Have you missed the deadline? No problem! Renewals may be processed within six months following the renewal deadline and are subject to payment of a penalty fee.
A distinctive aspect of trademark maintenance in Egypt is the concept of use. In most jurisdictions, the active presence of a trademark in the marketplace is a crucial requirement for retaining trademark rights. However, this is not the case in Egypt. However, trademark holders should be aware that if a third party initiates cancellation proceedings against their mark, the non-use of the mark will still likely count against them before the ITDA.
Egyptian Trademark Assignment
Now that we've detailed the trademark application process, let's dive into trademark assignment in Egypt. Only registered trademarks are eligible for assignment under Egyptian law. To change the ownership of a pending trademark application, parties must submit a request to update the name and address of the applicant. Here are the documents required to apply for trademark assignment in Egypt:
A completed deed of assignment document legalised up to the Egyptian Consulate. This document must include a list of the trademarks intended for transfer. If this is not possible, this list may be submitted as a separate document if legalised up to the Egyptian Consulate. If any of these documents are not completed in Arabic, this should also be accompanied by an Arabic translation document.
A copy of the trademark's registration certificate or proof of its latest renewal.
A completed power of attorney document legalised up to the Egyptian Consulate. If necessary, this should be accompanied by an Arabic translation if not executed in Arabic.
A certified copy of the company's registration details or certificate of incorporation legalised up to the Egyptian Consulate. If necessary, this should be accompanied by an Arabic translation if not executed in Arabic.
Once processed, all trademark assignments will be published in the Gazette of Trademarks and Industrial Designs. It is important to note that it is not possible to file any documents related to the trademark assignment application at a later stage. Another point of interest regarding trademark assignments relates to the sale or transfer of an Egyptian business. According to Article 88, if a business or commercial entity is sold or transferred, all trademarks linked to its operation will be transferred to its new owner by default unless stated otherwise. Should the parties agree that the entity's trademark portfolio will not form part of the transfer, the initial proprietor of those trademark rights may still use that mark in its registered class.
Security Interests & Trademarks in Egypt
Registered trademarks that are in active use in Egypt form part of an individual or business's fonds de commerce (the methods and tools a merchant employs to attract and fulfil the needs of their customers). Therefore, Egyptian trademarks may be used as security or hypothec. To use a trademark as collateral in Egypt–the agreement must be formally registered with a notary public and duly recorded in the mortgagor's commercial register. These steps ensure the legal validity and enforceability of the security arrangement.
That concludes our discussion on trademark prosecution in the legendary nation of Egypt! Do you have any additional questions about the specifics of trademark law in this region? If you would like to know more about trademark prosecution in Egypt and other African territories, please feel free to reach out to our IP Prosecutions team at info@debeerattorneys.com and we will be in contact with you as soon as we can.
PS: If you would like to explore previous instalments of this series that discuss trademark prosecution in other African markets, no problem! Simply click the relevant link below to access the information that you'd like:
Totsiens and sala kakuhle!
This information was last updated on 18 July 2024. This information is for general educational and entertainment purposes and is subject to change at any time.