Egypt recently amended Law no. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in an effort to join the UPOV Agreement and change its status from an observer to an active member.

Accordingly, these amendments to Book Four of the aforementioned Law, which relates to Plant Varieties, are a continuation of the procedural and legislative steps for this purpose in order to make the Egyptian IP Law more compatible with the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.

The filing requirements of a plant variety application in Egypt are as follows:

  • Denomination of the variety
  • Full disclosure of the origin of the variety and the method of breeding
  • A detailed description of the consecutive stages of the choice and propagation processes which were used to breed the variety
  • Proof of the novelty of the variety, in the sense that the variety has not been sold or otherwise disposed of for purposes of exploitation
  • Proof of the uniformity of the variety in the sense that any variations are describable, predictable, and commercially acceptable
  • Proof of the stability of the variety in the sense that the variety, when reproduced, will remain unchanged with regard to its essential and distinctive characteristics within a reasonable degree of commercial reliability
  • Proof of the distinctiveness of the variety, in the sense that the variety is clearly distinguishable from any other publicly known variety
  • Illustrations of the variety, if they are necessary to identify it, along with a brief description

The protection term is 25 years from date of grant for trees and grapevines, and 20 years for other agricultural products. As for annuities, a maintenance fee is due annually and should be paid within a period not exceeding three months from the date of the grant of the certificate.

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