Egypt consolidated its intellectual property rules in Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, in force since 3 June 2002. The law has four books: Book One covers patents, utility models, layout designs of integrated circuits and undisclosed information; Book Two covers trademarks, trade names, geographical indications and industrial designs; Book Three covers copyright and related rights; and Book Four covers plant varieties. Amendments have been narrow: Law No. 26 of 2015 and Law No. 144 of 2019 adjusted Book Four, and Law No. 178 of 2020 amended Article 185 to exempt young creators and persons with disabilities from registration fees. Egypt belongs to the Paris Convention since 1951, the Berne Convention since 1977 and the Madrid Protocol since 3 September 2009. This article reads the statute the way a business meets it: ownership, registration, licensing and enforcement.
The four books and the institutions behind them
Each book has its registrar. The Egyptian Patent Office receives patent and utility model applications under Book One. The Trademark and Industrial Design Office of the Internal Trade Development Authority keeps the trademark and design registers and publishes the Trademarks and Industrial Designs Gazette under Book Two. For copyright, Article 138 assigns competence to the Ministry of Culture, to the Ministry of Information for broadcasting organizations and to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for computer programs and databases. Implementing regulations were issued by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1366 of 2003.
For foreign businesses the treaty network matters operationally: Paris supports the six-month priority claim under Article 75, Berne underpins copyright protection without formalities, and Madrid lets an international registration designate Egypt, an alternative to a direct filing that we weigh case by case, because a designation depends on the fate of the base application for five years while a national filing stands alone.
Patents: what is patentable and for how long
Article 1 of Law 82 of 2002 grants a patent for any industrially applicable invention that is new and involves an inventive step, whether a product or a process. Article 2 excludes, among others, inventions whose exploitation would prejudice national security, public order or morality or harm the environment or life and health, and Article 3 destroys novelty where the invention was publicly disclosed before filing, with a six-month grace for exhibition disclosures. Article 9 sets the term at twenty years from the filing date in Egypt, with no renewal beyond it.
Patents carry obligations, not only rights. Under Article 23, the Patent Office may, after approval by a ministerial committee, grant a compulsory license in defined cases: public non-commercial purposes, emergencies, medicines in short supply, refusal to license on reasonable terms after serious negotiation, non-working in Egypt for four years from filing or three years from grant, whichever is longer, abuse of rights or anti-competitive practices, and dependent patents. If the license does not cure the harm, the Office may revoke the patent two years later. A filing strategy in Egypt therefore includes a working plan, not merely a certificate on the wall.
Utility models, layout designs and undisclosed information
Book One protects more than classic patents. Article 29 grants a utility model patent for a new technical addition in the structure or configuration of tools, apparatus, products or methods, and Article 30 limits its term to seven non-renewable years from filing, with conversion between patent and utility model applications preserving the filing date. Layout designs of integrated circuits have their own chapter.
Undisclosed information enjoys statutory protection against dishonest acquisition, disclosure or use. Article 58 treats as infringement the obtaining of protected information by unlawful means such as theft or espionage or by fraudulent methods, and its use by a third party who knows it is confidential; Article 59 carves out honest practices such as obtaining information from public sources. This is Egypt's trade secret chapter: non-disclosure agreements should be drafted to match these definitions, because the statutory claim follows the statutory wording.
Trademarks: registrability, well-known marks and the five-year presumption
Article 63 of Law 82 of 2002 defines a trademark as any visually perceptible sign that distinguishes goods or services, including distinctive names, signatures, words, letters, numerals, designs, symbols, seals, drawings, engravings and combinations of colors. Article 67 lists what cannot be registered: marks devoid of distinctive character, marks contrary to public order or morality, state emblems and flags, religious symbols, Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems, portraits without consent, and misleading geographical indications. Article 64 assigns registration to the Department of Trade Registry, and Arabic remains central to practice under Law No. 115 of 1958.
Article 68 protects a mark that is well-known worldwide and in Egypt even without registration, requiring the registry to reject ex officio an application identical to a well-known mark for identical products, and extending protection to non-identical products where the famous mark is registered in Egypt and use would suggest a connection or prejudice its owner. Article 65 adds a presumption with teeth: whoever registers a mark and uses it for five years is deemed its owner unless earlier use by a third party is proven, while a registration made in bad faith can be challenged at any time. First filing and documented early use decide Egyptian trademark disputes.
The trademark registration procedure step by step
An application is filed with the Trademark and Industrial Design Office under Article 73, in the form the regulations prescribe, with official fees capped by the statute at five thousand Egyptian pounds. Article 74 allows registration for one or more classes in accordance with the regulations, with protection confined to what is listed. Article 75 grants a six-month priority right from an earlier filing in a World Trade Organization member state or a reciprocity country, and Article 76 suspends conflicting simultaneous applications until waiver or judgment.
After examination, the Office may require modifications under Article 77, with rejection if the applicant does not comply within six months, and an appeal to a ministerial committee under Article 78. Acceptance is published in the Trademarks and Industrial Designs Gazette, and Article 80 opens a sixty-day opposition window for any interested party; the applicant must answer within thirty days of receiving the opposition, failing which the application is deemed withdrawn. Article 81 requires a reasoned decision, Article 82 channels appeals to the Administrative Court, and under Article 83 registration takes effect from the filing date.
Keeping the mark alive: renewal, use and cancellation
Article 90 of Law 82 of 2002 protects a registered mark for ten years, renewable for identical periods on application within the last year against the initial fees. The owner may renew within six months after expiry against the fees plus a supplement capped at five hundred pounds; failing that, the Office cancels the mark. Article 91 lets the competent court cancel a registration where the mark has not been seriously used for five consecutive years, at the request of any interested party.
Article 92 gives the former owner an exclusive three-year window to re-register a canceled mark; after that, anyone may seek the same mark for the same products, except where cancellation followed a court judgment of invalidity, in which case third parties may apply immediately. Article 71 adds exhaustion: the right to prevent import, use, sale or distribution of products bearing the mark lapses once the owner has marketed those products anywhere or authorized a third party to do so. Portfolio hygiene in Egypt is a calendar of renewals, a file of genuine use and a map of where genuine goods were first sold.
Licensing and assigning Egyptian trademarks
Article 95 of Law 82 of 2002 permits the owner to license the mark for all or some of the registered products, keeping its own right of use unless otherwise agreed, and the owner may not cancel or refuse renewal of the license without valid reasons. Article 96 requires the license to be certified and recorded in the Trademarks Register to be effective against third parties, and Article 97 restricts assignment of the license except with the business in which the mark is used. Article 98 forbids conditions that unnecessarily restrict the licensee, while permitting term limits, reasonable quality control and commitments not to harm the products' standing.
Assignments follow Articles 87 to 89: a mark may be transferred independently of the business, the transfer of a business includes its closely related marks unless otherwise agreed, and no transfer, mortgage or disposal is effective against third parties until recorded and published. In distribution and franchise files the recordal questions come first: an unrecorded license leaves the licensee exposed to later purchasers, and an unrecorded assignment leaves the buyer without an enforceable title.
Industrial designs and geographical indications
Article 119 of Law 82 of 2002 protects any composition of lines or three-dimensional form, with or without colors, that has a novel appearance and is industrially applicable. Article 120 destroys novelty by prior disclosure, with a six-month grace for disclosure at national or international exhibitions or in scientific conferences and periodicals. Article 122 allows one application to combine up to fifty designs forming a coherent unit, and Article 124 excludes designs dictated by technical or functional requirements, designs bearing state or religious emblems, and designs resembling a registered or well-known mark.
Article 126 grants protection for ten years from filing, extendable once for five years on a renewal application within the last year, with a three-month grace after expiry before automatic revocation. Article 127 confers the right to stop use, manufacture, sale or import of products bearing the design, with exceptions for research, teaching, non-commercial activity and repair parts. Geographical indications occupy Articles 104 to 112: they are protected where the indication has become descriptive of a product's quality or reputation, and Article 110 refuses a mark containing an indication likely to mislead about true origin.
Copyright: protected works, moral rights and written assignments
Article 140 of Law 82 of 2002 protects literary and artistic works including books, computer programs, databases, lectures, dramatic and musical works, audiovisual works, architecture, fine and applied art, photographs, maps and derivative works, and Article 141 excludes ideas, procedures, systems, methods, concepts, principles, discoveries and data, as well as official documents and mere news. Article 142 places national folklore in the public domain under the protection of the competent ministry. Article 143 grants the author perpetual, inalienable moral rights: first publication, attribution and integrity, and Article 145 voids any disposal of them.
Economic rights follow Article 147: reproduction, broadcasting, public performance and communication, translation, adaptation, rental and making available through computers and networks, plus a resale right of up to ten percent on disposals of the original copy. Article 149 requires any transfer of economic rights to be in writing, identifying each right with its extent, purpose, duration and place of exploitation, and Article 153 voids any disposal of the author's future intellectual production. Because Egyptian law gives the employer no automatic ownership of employee creations, businesses secure copyright from staff and contractors by written assignment; the employment contract alone is not a chain of title.
Copyright term, related rights and permitted uses
Article 160 protects economic rights for the author's life plus fifty years, and Article 161 applies the same rule to joint works from the last survivor's death. Article 162 gives legal entities and posthumous works fifty years from publication, Article 163 does the same for anonymous and pseudonymous works, and Article 164 limits works of applied art to twenty-five years from first publication. Among related rights, Article 166 gives performers fifty years, Article 167 gives producers of sound recordings fifty years and Article 168 gives broadcasting organizations twenty years. Article 148 adds a distinctive rule: the exclusive right to translate a work into Arabic lapses unless exercised within three years of first publication.
Articles 171 and 172 permit defined uses without consent: family and educational performance, a single personal copy, a backup or adaptation copy of a computer program within the licensed purpose, quotation for criticism or information, reproduction for legal proceedings, short teaching extracts with attribution, library preservation copies and ephemeral technical copies, plus defined press uses. Article 170 lets the competent ministry grant personal licenses for reproduction or translation for teaching against equitable remuneration, with fees capped at one thousand pounds per work. The exceptions are exhaustive and purpose-bound; commercial reuse needs a license.
Enforcement: conservatory measures, customs and criminal penalties
Book Two and Book Three both arm the courts. Article 115 lets the president of the competent court order, on petition, a detailed description of the infringing goods and materials, proof of infringement and seizure, including imported products on arrival; the merits must be filed within fifteen days or the order lapses. Article 179 provides the same conservatory toolkit for copyright, with a thirty-day appeal window under Articles 116 and 180. Article 117 allows the court to order sale or destruction of seized goods and of the tools of infringement, and publication of the judgment.
Criminal penalties are graduated. Article 113 punishes counterfeiting or imitating a registered mark, fraudulent use of a counterfeit mark and knowingly selling infringing products with at least two months' imprisonment, a fine of five thousand to twenty thousand pounds, or either, rising on repetition to a fine of ten thousand to fifty thousand pounds with mandatory closure of the enterprise; Article 114 covers false trade indications and misuse of geographical indications. For copyright, Article 181 imposes at least one month's imprisonment, a fine of five thousand to ten thousand pounds, or either, for selling, renting, imitating or disseminating protected works without written authorization and for circumventing technical protection, rising on repetition to at least three months and ten thousand to fifty thousand pounds, with confiscation in all cases. Patent counterfeiting under Article 32 carries a fine of twenty thousand to one hundred thousand pounds, and on repetition up to two years' imprisonment and forty thousand to two hundred thousand pounds.
What we review in an Egyptian intellectual property file
When we review an Egyptian IP position we begin with registrability and title: searches before the Trademark and Industrial Design Office, the five-year presumption of Article 65, well-known mark exposure under Article 68, and every license and assignment checked for recordal under Articles 89 and 96. We test copyright chains against the written assignment rule of Article 149 and the term rules of Articles 160 to 168, and map launches against the novelty and grace rules of Articles 3 and 120. For enforcement we preserve unaltered evidence, prepare conservatory petitions under Articles 115 and 179 with their fifteen-day clock, assess criminal complaints under Articles 113 and 181, and close with a renewal and watch calendar for registrations, licenses and use evidence.
See also: our Egypt data protection guide and our Egypt Investment Law 72 guide, plus our commercial and corporate practice.
Frequently asked questions
Is copyright registration required in Egypt?
No. Protection arises by law under Article 140 of Law 82 of 2002 without formalities; Article 185 adds a register for recording acts of disposal, effective against third parties, but it does not create the right.
How long does an Egyptian trademark registration last?
Ten years under Article 90, renewable for identical periods, with a six-month grace period after expiry against the fees plus a supplement.
Can a registered mark be canceled for non-use?
Yes. Under Article 91, the competent court may cancel a mark that has not been seriously used for five consecutive years, at the request of any interested party.
Is Egypt part of the Madrid System?
Yes. Egypt has been a member of the Madrid Protocol since 3 September 2009, so an international registration can designate Egypt, alongside the option of a direct national filing.
What is the trademark opposition period in Egypt?
Sixty days from publication of the acceptance in the Trademarks and Industrial Designs Gazette under Article 80, and the applicant must reply within thirty days or the application is deemed withdrawn.
Who owns software written by an employee in Egypt?
The author is protected as creator, and the law gives the employer no automatic ownership; the company needs a written assignment under Article 149 specifying each right, its extent, purpose, duration and place.
What penalties apply to counterfeiting in Egypt?
Article 113 punishes trademark counterfeiting with at least two months' imprisonment, a fine of five thousand to twenty thousand pounds, or either, and Article 181 punishes copyright piracy with at least one month, a fine of five thousand to ten thousand pounds, or either, rising on repetition.
Do you review intellectual property portfolios in Egypt?
Yes. We audit title and registrations, file and renew trademarks and designs, draft and record licenses and plan civil and criminal enforcement. Contact us through our contact page.