EGYPT
Rank: 41/45
100
Patents
Percentage of Overall Score
90
80
Membership and
Ratification of
International Treaties
70
60
35
Copyrights
50
40
30
30
10
25
20
20
15.39
15
Enforcement
10
Trademarks
5
0
Trade Secrets and Market Access
Egypt
13.73
9.38
Egypt
Median
Index Score
Regional
Average
Top 5 Economies’ Average Score
Strengths and Weaknesses
Key Areas of Strength
Key Areas of Weakness
3 As a WTO member, basic national IP framework in place
7 Limited framework for protection of life sciences IP rights
3 Relative freedom to patent CIIs and support from government
agencies
7 Gaps in copyright law and framework, particularly with regard to
protection of content online
7 High levels of piracy
7 Challenging enforcement environment and lack of border
measures
7 Limited participation in international IP treaties
INDICATOR
SCORE
INDICATOR
SCORE
Category 1: Patents, Related Rights, and Limitations
1. Term of protection
1
2. Patentability requirements
3. Patentability of CIIs
0.25
0.5
19. Frameworks against online sale of counterfeit goods
0.25
20.Industrial design term of protection
21. Exclusive rights, industrial design rights
0.6
0.25
4. Pharmaceutical-related enforcement
0
Category 4: Trade Secrets and Market Access
5. Legislative criteria and active use of compulsory licensing
0
22. Protection of trade secrets
0.25
6. Pharmaceutical patent term restoration
0
23. Non-barriers to market access
0.75
7. Regulatory data protection term
0
24. Regulatory and administrative barriers to commercialization
8. Patent opposition
0
Category 5: Enforcement
Category 2: Copyrights, Related Rights, and Limitations
0.5
25. Physical counterfeiting rates
0.26
9. Term of protection
0.38
26. Software piracy rates
0.39
10.Exclusive rights
0.25
27. Civil and procedural remedies
0.25
11.Cooperative action against online piracy
0
12.Limitations and exceptions
0.5
13.Digital rights management
0.25
14.Government use of licensed software
0
Category 3: Trademarks, Related Rights, and Limitations
28.Pre-established damages
29. Criminal standards
0
0.25
30. Effective border measures
0
31.Transparency and public reporting by customs
0
Category 6: Membership and Ratification of International Treaties
15.Term of protection
1
32.WIPO Internet Treaties
0
16.Limitations on use of brands
1
33.Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks
0
0.25
34.Patent Law Treaty
0
0.25
35.Post-TRIPS FTA
0
17.Protection of well-known marks
18.Exclusive rights
TOTAL: 9.38
[ THE ROOTS OF INNOVATION U.S. Chamber International IP Index | Fifth Edition ]
Spotlight on the National IP Environment
Patents, Related Rights, and Limitations
2. Patentability requirements; and 3. Patentability of
computer-implemented inventions (CIIs): The 2002 Law 82
“Pertaining to the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights”
provides definitions and standards for all IP rights including
patents and patentability. Article 1 of Book One states that
patents should be granted for inventions that are new,
involve an inventive step, and are industrially applicable.
Local legal analysis suggests that, unlike most patent offices,
the Egyptian Patent Office does not allow second use claims
in Swiss form or otherwise. Looking at the patentability of
CIIs, some uncertainty about the current situation exists.
Egypt promotes a system of software registration and
protection for computer software under copyright, but
the patenting of “programs” is not allowed under Law 82.
However, practice suggests that CIIs are indeed granted.
The Information Technology Industry Development Agency
(part of the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology) directly supports and sponsors the filing of
patents for CIIs in Egypt and abroad. And looking at patent
applications in Egypt, WIPO statistics from 2000 to 2014
show computer technology filings as the third largest
category of filing at the Egyptian Patent Office at 7.13% of
the total. Still, survey evidence from a 2014 study by WIPO
of the Egyptian ICT sector shows the use of IP rights to
protect new technologies even within the software industry
is currently underused. While 95% of participating small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) claimed they were creating
IP assets that should be protected, only 25% actually did
formally protect these assets through the use of IP rights.
4. Pharmaceutical-related patent enforcement and
resolution mechanism: There is currently no mechanism
that links the market authorization of a follow-on
biopharmaceutical product with the exclusivity status of
the reference product. Industry reports suggest that, since
2013, a number of follow-on products have been granted
market authorization by the health authorities even though
the reference product is under patent protection. Given
the difficulties in enforcing IP rights through the Egyptian
court system—Egypt ranked 104 out of 113 countries on
availability of civil justice and enforcement on the 2016
World Justice Project’s Rule of Index—the lack of a linkage
mechanism means rights holders have a very limited ability
to protect and defend their IP from infringement.
Copyrights, Related Rights, and Limitations
10. Legal measures that provide necessary exclusive rights
preventing infringement of copyrights and related
rights (including Web hosting, streaming, and linking);
and 13. Digital rights management (DRM) legislation:
Book 3 of Law 82 provides standard exclusive rights. The
law does not provide specific remedies or rights within an
online or digital context. For example, the law does not
include any notification and takedown system in place for
online infringement, and Article 181 of the law contains only
rudimentary DRM protection measures and technological
protection measures with, for instance, distribution not listed
as an offense.
Enforcement
26. Software piracy rates; 27. Civil and procedural remedies;
28. Preestablished damages and/or mechanisms for
determining the amount of damages generated by
infringement; and 29. Criminal standards including
minimum imprisonment and minimum fines: Rights
holders face a challenging environment for enforcing IP
rights in Egypt. Civil remedies, criminal standards, and
mechanisms for determining damages are in place but are
relatively low and not consistently applied or enforced. Basic
civil remedies are in place for the infringement of all IP rights
including the issuing of injunctions and the seizure of profits
and infringing goods, but enforcement is difficult because,
as mentioned, Egypt’s court system is overburdened.
Criminal sanctions are available under existing copyright
and trademark laws, but these sanctions are relatively
lenient; for example, businesses engaging in infringement
can be ordered closed, but only for a maximum period of
six months. Levels of physical counterfeiting and online
piracy are high. The Business Software Alliance estimates
that Egypt’s software piracy rate is 61%; this has remained
virtually unchanged since 2009. Estimated rates of physical
counterfeiting are also high; for example, EU customs lists
Egypt as the top country of origin for counterfeit goods.
30. Effective border measures; and 31. Transparency and
public reporting by customs authorities of trade-related
IP infringement: Ex officio action is not explicitly provided
by Customs Law or the 2005 “Executive Regulation to
Implement Import and Export Law” (No. 770/2005).
Egyptian customs authorities do not use a centralized
recording system. Existing procedures require rights
holders to notify customs in advance of specific suspected
shipments and provide evidence of infringement of their IP
rights. Local legal analysis suggests that border measures do
not extend to goods in transit; Egyptian IP law relates only
to goods intended for the Egyptian market.
Membership and Ratification of International
Treaties
Egypt is not a contracting party to any of the IP treaties included
in the Index. The 2001 EU-Egypt Association Agreement
contains limited references to IP rights.
[ Read the full study at www.uschamber.com/ipindex ]