Brussels, 20/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - Morocco is preparing to recognise the European patents on its territory. This is the first country that is not a member of the European Patents Organisation to endorse the objectives of the patent and recognise it as a national patent.
On Thursday 19 January, the Moroccan Minister for Industry and Trade, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, joined the President of the European Patents Office, Benoît Battistelli, to announce that an agreement in this connection would enter into force on 1 March. As from this date, all validation requests made by Morocco will also apply to European patents submitted (in exchange for a validation tax payment). Patents and their requests will enjoy the same legal status as their Moroccan equivalents. (MD)