The system for validating European patents in Morocco introduced under the validation agreement between the European Patent Organisation and the government of the Kingdom of Morocco provides European patent applicants with a simple and cost-effective way of obtaining patent protection in Morocco. At the applicant’s request, and on payment of the prescribed fee, direct applications or PCT applications in Europe can be validated in Morocco, where they will have the same effects as national applications and patents. The validation procedure is not based on direct application of the EPC but is governed solely by national law.
On 17 December 2010, the President of the European Patent Office and Morocco’s Minister for Industry signed an agreement on the validation of European patents (validation agreement). On 21 November 2014, the King of Morocco promulgated an amendment to the country’s industrial property legislation creating the basis for the validation system. In the meantime, a decree, an order and a notice from the Director-General of the Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office (OMPIC) have clarified the details of the validation system. This agreement entered into force from 1 March 2015 when it was possible to validate European patent applications and patents in Morocco, where, after validation, they will confer essentially the same protection as patents granted by the EPO for the now 38 member states of the European Patent Organisation.
- Validation in Morocco only occurs at the applicant’s request.
- Anyone filing a European patent application will be able to request a validation for Morocco.
- Validation is deemed requested for any European or international application filed on or after 1 March 2015. It is not available for applications filed prior to that date.
- The validation fee must be paid to the EPO within 6 months of the date on which the European Patent Bulletin mentions the publication of the European search report, or, where applicable, within the period for performing the acts required for an international application’s entry into the European phase.
- After expiry of the relevant basic time limit, the validation fee can still be validly paid within a two-month grace period, provided that within that period a surcharge of 50% is also paid.
The EPO headquarters are located in Munich, Germany. The EPO has also a offices in The Hague, Berlin, Vienna, Brussels and Munich, Haar (Boards of Appeal). (1) The European Patent Office and the (2) Administrative Council form the organs of the European Patent Organisation.
38 member states of the European Patent Organisation
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, North Macedonia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Slvenia, Slovakia, San Marino, Turkey.