. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/N/1/EGY/1/Add.1
8 May 2000
(00-1868)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS
UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT
EGYPT
Addendum
The following communication, dated 20 April 2000, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
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With reference to the provisions of Article 70 paragraph 9 of the TRIPS Agreement and further
to Egypt's replies to the United States' questions rela ted to the implementation of the provisions of this
paragraph (document IP/C/W/136), I would like to inform the WTO Members, through you, that a
Decree Number 547 for the year 2000 was issued by the Prime Minister of Egypt to organize the
implementation of Article 70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement and to specify the government body to be
responsible for issuing the certificate of the exclus ive marketing rights as well as the conditions and
procedures necessary to grant this certificate, which are as follows:
1. The Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (the Egyptian Patent Office) is the
government body responsible for issuing the cer tificate of exclusive marketing rights for
products subject to the provisions of  Article 70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement.
2. To be granted the certificate of exclusive ma rketing rights, the applicant must fulfill the
following conditions:
(a) submit a product patent application with the mailbox facility, already created and
operational at the Egyptian Patent Office;
(b) present a copy of the patent that was granted for the same product in another WTO
Member country provided that the patent was granted for a new invention for which an
application for obtaining the patent in that Member country was filed on or after
1 January 1995;
(c) submit certified evidence on the marketing approval of the same product in the same
WTO Member country as issued by the responsible authority.
3. The approval for marketing the same product in Egypt will be issued after consideration by a
committee, which will be formed from the concerne d Ministries, as stipulated in a decree issued
by the Prime Minister.  The decree will also set the rules organizing the granting of this
approval.IP/N/1/EGY/1/Add.1
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4. The certificate granted for the exclusive marke ting rights of the same product in Egypt, after
obtaining marketing approval in Egypt, will be valid for a period of five years from the date of
its issuance or until a decision concerning the patent is taken in Egypt, whichever period is
shorter.
5. For the purpose of complying with the provisi ons of Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement, the
concerned authorities in Egypt undertake to ensu re the protection of undisclosed test or other
data, the origination of which involves a consid erable effort, against unfair commercial use and
also to protect such data against disclosure , except where necessary to protect the public, or
unless steps are taken to ensure that the date  are protected against unfair commercial use.
6. The Academy of Scientific Research and Techno logy (the Egyptian Patent Office) will continue
to accept applications to obtain patents that ar e fulfilling the required conditions for depositing
in the mailbox established for this purpose.
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