How to Register a Trademark in Egypt_ By Ms. Shaimaa Solaiman

In order to register a trademark in Egypt, the following documents should be submitted to the Egyptian Trademarks Office:

- A power of attorney to be issued by the applicant to the applicant's representative. By virtue of said power of attorney, the applicant authorizes his representative to act on his behalf and represent him before the Egyptian Trademarks Office to file and register the applicant's trademark. Said Power of Attorney should be notarized by the competent Notary Public, then, legalized by the Egyptian Consulate at the applicant's end. 

- Copy of the company's article of incorporation or commercial register legalized by the Egyptian Consulate at the applicant's end. (N.B Said document should be translated into Arabic). 

- Copy of the trademark's form 

- The Classes and list of products and/or services which shall be protected under the trademark in question (N.B Said document should be translated into Arabic). It is worth mentioning that Egypt adopts the Nice Classification.

Procedures to be Taken for Filing and Registering a Trademark in Egypt

First: Filing Phase 

1. A filing application along with the above mentioned documents shall be submitted to the Egyptian Trademarks Office.

2. Said application shall be subject to the examination by specialized examiners. 

3. During the examination process, the Trademarks Office may request the applicant to make some amendments to his trademark. If the requested amendments have not been made within six months of the notification, the Trademarks Office may reject the trademark application. 

4. The examination phase shall take around 8 months. 

5. At the end of the examination period, the examiner will issue a decision either accepting or rejecting the registration of the trademark in question. 

If the decision of the Trademarks Office was an acceptance decision then, the Trademark will be moved to the second phase "Publication and Registration Phase".

Second: Publication and Registration Phase

1. The publication fees shall be paid in order to publish the trademark in the Trademarks Offical Gazette. 

2. Upon the publication of the trademark in the aforementioned Gazette, the third party shall have sixty days in order to object to the publication of said trademark. 

3. If no objection takes place during these sixty days, the Trademark shall be finally registered and the registration Certificate may be obtained.

Based on the above the time frame required to have a trademark registered in Egypt ranges between 12 to 14 months in normal cases. 

The protection period is ten years as of the date of filing the trademark. Said period may be renewed at the end of the tenth year. It is worth mentioning that the renewal of the trademark for other periods shall also be published in the Trademarks Official Gazette. 

However, if the decision of the Trademarks Office was a refusal decision, the following scenario shall take place:

Within thirty days of notification of the refusal decision, the applicant may submit a grievance against such decision to the Grievances Committee at the Egyptian Trademarks Office. If the said Committee accepts the Grievance, the trademark will be moved to the publication and registration process as indicated herein above.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ms. Shaimaa Solaiman,Managing Partner of Challenge Law Firm

Ms. Shaimaa Solaiman, Founder and Managing Partner of Challenge Law Firm. Before establishing Challenge Law Firm, she was practicing Law for around 10 years in a multinational law firm. Ms. Solaiman has LLM degree in Law in 2001 and admitted to Bar Association in 2001.