Patent

Article 1

A patent shall be granted, in accordance with the provisions of this Law, to any industrially applicable invention, which is new, involves an inventive step, whether connected with new industrial products, new industrial processes, or a new application of known industrial processes. The patent is also granted, independently, for any modification, improvement or addition to a previously patented invention, which meets the criteria of being new, inventive and industrially applicable, as stated in the preceding paragraph; in which case the patent shall be granted, under the provisions of this Law, to the owner of the modification, improvement or addition.

Article 2

Patents shall not be granted for:

(1) Inventions whose exploitation is likely to be contrary to public order or morality, or prejudicial to the environment, human, animal or plant life and health.

(2) Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods, programs and schemes.

(3) Diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for humans and animals.

(4) Plants and animals, regardless of their rarity or peculiarity, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, other than microorganisms, non-biological and microbiological processes for the production of plants or animals. gans, tissues, live cells, natural biological substances, nuclear acid and genome.

Article 3

An invention shall not be considered wholly or partly new:

(i) if, before the filing date of the patent application, a patent application has been filed for the same invention or a patent was already issued in or outside Egypt for the invention or part thereof;

(ii) if, before the filing date of the patent application, the invention was used publicly in or outside Egypt, or the description of which was disclosed in a manner so as a person having expertise in the art is able to exploit it.

According to the provisions of the preceding Article, disclosure shall not include displaying the invention in national or international exhibitions within the six months before the date on which the application was filed.

The Regulations shall specify the conditions and the procedures for the disclosure of a patent.

Article 4

Without prejudice to the international conventions in force in Egypt, any natural person or legal entity, Egyptian or foreign, belonging to, domiciled or active in a country or an entity that is a member of the World Trade Organization or that applies reciprocity to Egypt, shall have the right to apply for a patent at the Egyptian Patent Office, and enjoy whatever rights derived there from, in conformity with the provisions of this Law.

Nationals of all member countries of the World Trade Organization shall benefit from any advantage, preference, privilege or immunity granted by any other law to nationals of any state in connection with the rights provided for in this Chapter, unless such advantage, preference or immunity derives from:

(One) agreements on judicial assistance or agreement on law enforcement of general nature;

(Two) agreements in connection with the protection of intellectual property rights which came into force prior to the 1st of January 1995.

Article 5

The Patent Office shall establish a special register to record patent applications, utility models and all related data, exploitation and application thereof, in conformity with the provisions of this Law, as set out in its Regulations.

Article 6

The right to the patent shall belong to the inventor or his successor in title.

If two or more persons have jointly made an invention, the right to the patent shall belong to them jointly and equally, unless they have agreed otherwise.

If more than one person have made the same invention independently, the right to the patent shall belong to the person who was first to apply for a patent.

Article 7

If a person commissions another to make a specific invention, all rights derived from such an invention shall belong the former. Likewise, the employer shall have all the rights derived from the inventions discovered by the worker or the employee during the period of work relationship or employment, insofar as the invention falls within the scope of the work contract, relationship or employment.

The name of the inventor shall be mentioned in the patent, and he shall be remunerated in all cases. If such remuneration was not agreed on, he shall be entitled to a fair compensation from the person who requested the invention, or from the employer.

In cases other than the preceding, where the invention is part of the activities of the public or private establishment to which the inventor is attached, the employer shall have the choice either to exploit the invention, or to acquire the patent against a fair compensation paid to the inventor, provided the choice is made within three months from the date of notifying the grant of the patent.

In all cases, the invention shall be attributed to the inventor.

Article 8

The application for patent filed by an inventor within one year from the termination of his employment in a private or public establishment, shall be considered as filed during the work or employment contract. Both the inventor and the employer shall be entitled to all the rights stipulated in the preceding article, as appropriate.

Such a period shall extend to three years if the said worker establishes or joins a competing establishment and the invention is the direct result of that workers activity and previous experience in the establishment in which he was working.

Article 9

The protection period a patent shall be 20 years as of the date of filing the application in Egypt.