IP/N/1/EGY/1/Add.1

Egypt

[Not Applicable]

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 related 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 exclusive 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 certificate 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 marketing 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 concerned Ministries, as stipulated in a decree issued by the Prime Minister. The decree will also set the rules organizing the granting of this approval.