Pursuant to Law no. 23-13 amending and completing Law no. 17-97 on the Protection of Industrial Property, European patent applications filed on or after March 1, 2015 may designate MA and EP grants may be validated in Morocco.
After the patent application is published by the EPO, the applicant may file a request for provisional protection in Morocco by submitting 2 copies of the claims, in Arabic or French.
As for the validation of EP grants in Morocco, the applicant must pay any annuities due and submit the granted claims in French or Arabic (in duplicate), along with a validation application as per the prescribed form. A grace period of three months is observed.
Although Morocco is not an EPC member state, the Law provides the country a pseudo-EPC status with regards to patent procurement, and is expected to encourage more filings and more foreign investment.
It will still be possible to file patent applications in Morocco via PCT national stage entry or claiming Paris Convention.
Should you have any questions, or require any additional information, please contact us at news@sabaip.com