A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.

By rewarding ideas, patents encourage the development of innovations and new technologies in every field.

The patent owner has the exclusive right to prevent or stop others from commercially exploiting the patented invention without its consent (through a license).

To be patented, the invention should meet the three main conditions, to be novel, to involve an inventive step (non-obvious) and be capable of industrial application.

In Morocco, A patent can be obtained by filing convention patent application, or national phase of an international application PCT or validation of a granted European Patent.

Once the patent application is filed and all requirements and documents have been completed, a search/examination report with an opinion on patentability to appreciate the novelty, the inventive step and the industrial application of the invention, is prepared by a patent examiner specialist in the technical field of the invention. The report cites a list of patent inventions and documents related to the invention and have been made available to the public before the filing date of the application for a patent, accompanied with an opinion on the patentability of the invention.

The search/examination report is notified to the applicant who can amend the claims within the extended initial description and, where appropriate, to comment on the relevance of the documents cited, without exceeding a period of three months from the date of notification of report.

After the expiration of 18 months deadline as from the filing date of the patent application or first priority date, it will be published and if the search/examination report is established, it will be published with the application, otherwise it will be published separately.

After publication of the patent application, any third party may present observations concerning the patentability of the invention claimed in the application. These observations must be made within two months after the publication of the patent application. Any observations will be sent without delay who has a period of two months to provide a reply if required.

Depending on the search/examination report and observations of the applicant and/ or third parties, and eventually modified claims, a final examination report is issued.

After the verification of the absence of grounds for refusal, the patent is granted after the payment of the grant fees.

The granted patent is published with the definitive search/examination report.

Annuities are payable on yearly basis and once the patent is granted.

The Applicant of a patent filed after March 1, 2015 before the European Patent Office (EPO) is entitled to request its protection also in Morocco, among other countries, provided that the relevant validation fee be timely paid to the EPO. If the validation fee is not paid in due time, the request for validation is deemed withdrawn.

The validation is not available for applications filed prior to that date, or for any European patents resulting from such applications.

Once the EPO publishes the mention of grant, the applicant should, within three months as of that publication date, file an Arabic or French translation of the claims with the Moroccan PTO and pays the prescribed fees. A grace period of further two months is allowed for filing the required translation with payment of extra fees. The Moroccan PTO will publish the translation of the claims of the validated European patent.

There are many advantages to use this process:

– No further examination is conducted by the Moroccan PTO.
– Less fees are to be paid. No fees for the examination.
– No Arabic or French translation of the whole patent specification is required.
– Only the translation of claims that should be filed for the validation.

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) between the Moroccan Office for Industrial Property (OMPIC) and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM).

The PPH enables an applicant whose claims have been determined to be patentable/acceptable to have a corresponding application filed with a PPH partner office processed in an accelerated manner while at the same time allowing the offices involved to exploit available work results.

Applicants who wish to benefit from an accelerated examination procedure under the PPH must submit a request to OMPIC using the PPH form accompanied by the documents required for this purpose. Please see the PPH Directives