News: Trademark registration in Morocco

Registration of trademarks in Morocco

Registration of trademarks in the Kingdom of Morocco can be conducted in two different ways:

• On the basis of special international agreements with the assumption of public expenditure (payment for purchase of land parcels, creation of brand, training of personnel) with simultaneous provision of customs, tax, and other benefits to the investor;
• Without state participation in investment projects, registration of trade brand, and in this case, before registering trademark in Morocco in accordance with the current code and international regulatory acts of the state, the investor at his own expense regulates all customs, administrative, tax and other formalities regarding the project.

When considering investment projects, the following state and regional structures consider such investment cases as:

• In case the amount of investment contract is more than or equal to 200 million of Moroccan dirhams (18 million euros), the investment project for registration of trademark in Morocco is being considered by the Investment Department of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Digital Technologies and Investments of Morocco.

• In case the amount of investment contract is less than 200 million of Moroccan dirhams (18 million euros), reception and consultation of investors, provision of assistance to them are carried out by the regional investment centers (RICs) set up purposefully in 2003.

Permission for registering a brand name in Morocco

Law&Trust International has been dealing with trademark registration issues for a long time.

The foregoing issues include the following:

• Verification of the designation in its final version approved for registration. The foregoing includes patent search (verification) among Russian and international applications for registration of patents and trademarks submitted within the previous three years. Such verification approximates the probability of successful registration of trademark in Morocco to the maximum level.

• Compiling and sending the application. The application is compiled taking into account the elaborated tactics of registration.

• Receiving replies to the official requests of the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (FIIP) in the course of passed examinations, filing the application for the decision of formal FIIP examinations, conducting the main examination (of the trademark applied for) in the FIPS.

• Obtaining authorized trademark registration certificate in the Kingdom of Morocco.

The Madrid agreement, which we use to register trademark using one application in several jurisdictions, provides legal protection to trademarks in more than 70 countries.