Meeting on the contributions of the amendment to the Law on Industrial Property in favor of innovation and investment

Under the chairmanship of Mr. Elalamy, Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and Digital Economy and with the participation of Mr. Battistelli, President of the European Patent Office (EPO).

This meeting follows the entry into force of the law 23-13 amending the law 17-97 relative to the Protection of Industrial Property, which was published in the Official Gazette dated on December 18, 2014. This law strengthens the national system of industrial property, including the quality of Moroccan patents, by providing for the assessment of patentability criteria by OMPIC.

The event was attended by Mr. Benoît Battistelli, President of the European Patent Office (EPO) and was the occasion to announce the entry into force on 1 March 2015 of the validation system of european patents in Morocco, the first of its kind outside the European area. In this context, Mr. Adil El Maliki, Director General of the OMPIC and Mr. Battistelli had an exchange of letters.

With this system, the applicants of patents can designate Morocco together with the European countries. These patents have the same legal effect as a national patent and shall be subject to Moroccan law. This system allows us to offer a new way for the protection of inventions, helps attract high-value investments.