Morocco Chapter of Global Patent GO——Introduction to Patent Application in Morocco

Romantic Enclave Morocco

I believe that most Chinese are not familiar with Morocco, and many people will confuse Monaco and Morocco. If you can clearly state the geographical location of Morocco, it means that your geography is quite good. But if you mention Casablanca, many people will suddenly realize, oh! North African Spy. Yes, Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco. In addition, there is a film that was nominated for four Oscars in 1930. Therefore, it was included in the list of protected films of the National Film Preservation Committee of the United States for its remarkable achievements in culture, history and aesthetics. ", but I speculate that we Chinese learned about Morocco probably more through Sanmao and her Sahara stories.

Morocco is located in the west of North Africa, close to the Sahara Desert, across the Strait of Gibraltar from Portugal and Spain. It used to be a French colony and gained independence in 1956. It belongs to a dual constitutional monarchy and is dominated by the tertiary industry economy. Phosphate The reserves are 110 billion tons, ranking first in the world. As a small country with a land area only equivalent to my country's Gansu Province, Morocco has long received aid from France and Spain, and its national economy has developed slowly.

It is said that the patent industry in Morocco is very small, and there are only a few registered intellectual property lawyers. Therefore, if intellectual property rights want to take effect in Morocco, more applicants have adopted the European route of entry into force. Since 2015, by applying for European The patent can be valid in Morocco after the grant of the patent. In order to change the status quo that most patent applications may be rejected due to format issues, since 2018, Morocco has participated in WIPO's Inventor Assistance Program (IAP), planning to enable more patent professionals to train more innovative talents for Morocco .

Introduction to the Moroccan Patent System

1. Moroccan patent application filing language

Arabic and French, if submitted in other languages, must be translated within 3 months from the filing date.

2. Types of patent protection in Morocco:

inventions, designs

3. Paths for Chinese applicants to apply for patents in Morocco

Paris Convention, PCT entry into the national phase of Morocco, entry into force in Europe, direct application

4. Review unit:

Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office, Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office, referred to as OMPIC.

5. Submission Deadline

Paris Convention: 12 months;
Moroccan national phase entry via the via Nationalization of PCT : 31 months;
Accept Priority Restoration

6. Review process

After the formality examination of the patent application is completed, OMPIC will conduct a search and provide an opinion on the patentability of the application. The applicant must respond to the examination opinion within three months, and then the patent application will be published in the Patent Gazette. The next two months is the objection period. Anyone can submit third-party opinions to OMPIC. If there is any objection, OMPIC will convey it to the applicant so that the applicant can make a reply within 2 months; if the reply is passed, it will be authorized; if If the application is rejected, the applicant still has 2 months to respond to change the rejection decision made by the examiner.

7. Authorization and annual fee

The Moroccan annual fee shall be paid year by year upon the expiration of the annual application date after granted, the annual fee shall not be paid more than 12 months in advance, and there is a 6-month late payment period.

Features of a Moroccan patent

1. Submitting third-party public comments is directly effective in preventing competitors from applying for patents in Morocco; conversely, granting patents in other countries or search reports that are beneficial to patent applications will help speed up the granting of patent applications in Morocco.

2. Only absolute novelty is required for a patent application in Morocco.

Friendliness to Chinese applicants:

★★★

Gold content of patent rights:

★★

The degree of perfection of the rights protection mechanism:

★★