UK Government survey on EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Morocco and Tunisia

News from the UK IPO that the European Commission is planning to launch free trade agreement negotiations with Morocco and Tunisia in the near future and that the UK Government is conducting a business survey about existing barriers to trade in these countries. They ask for responses to the survey by Friday 27th November. The survey is here.

This part of the Empty Quarter wanted to find out more about the Free Trade Agreement negotiations themselves, did some searching and found these useful summaries from the European Commission for Morocco and Tunisia.

Apparently negotiations for a "Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement" (DCFTA) between the EU and Morocco were launched on 1st March 2013. Four or five negotiating rounds have taken place. The DCFTA is intended to extend significantly beyond the scope of the existing Association Agreement to include trade in services, government procurement, competition, intellectual property rights, investment protection and the gradual integration of the Moroccan economy into the EU single market. The main objective of the DCFTA is to bring Moroccan legislation closer to EU legislation in trade-related areas.

Discussions with Tunisia do not seem to be so advanced.

EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Southern Mediteranean countries

News reaches, in a roundabout way, this part of the Empty Quarter of ongoing efforts by the European Commission to strengthen ties with those countries that border the Mediterranean.

There is an interesting portal to these efforts on the European Commission Euro-Mediterranean partnership webpage here. And there is a up to date summary of FTA and other trade negotiations in a PDF document here (which covers other countries as well). These are of interest because they lead to "Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements" which cover Intellectual Property.

Tunisia - Decree No. 2015-303 on trade marks

News hot of the press from WIPO today that Decree No 2015-303 has been added to the WIPO Lex database (in Arabic and French). The notice reads:

The Decree No. 2015-303 of June 1, 2015, establishing the Procedures for the Registration of and Opposition to the Registration of Trademarks and Service Marks, as well as the Procedures concerning Recording in the National Register of Marks came into force on June 9, 2015, and repealed Decree No. 2001-1603 of July 11, 2001.

The Decree introduces the following modifications:

(i) introduction of electronic filing of applications for the registration of trademarks;
(ii) setting out of provisions governing the trademark registration through the Madrid Protocol;
(iii) extension during the opposition period of the time for the applicant to submit observations from 45 days to 2 months from the date of notification of the opposition;
(iv) fixation of a maximum period of 8 months from the date of submission of observations for the applicant and the opponent to attempt conciliation in the trademark opposition;
(v) extension to 2 months from 1 month of the period during which the opponent may furnish proof of the use of the trademarks upon which opposition has been based; and
(vi) definition of a period of 2 months for the applicant to submit the missing documents to request recording of a change of names, addresses, ownership, assignment, etc., in the National Register of Marks.

UPDATE

Here is an update from good friends Spoor & Fisher

Tunisia – Procedural changes dealing with trade mark applications and oppositions
Tunisia, a country that recently joined the Madrid Protocol, has made certain procedural changes to its trade mark law. These changes affect not only trade mark applications, but also trade mark oppositions, where an EU-style conciliation process exists. These changes are contained in a new decree, Decree No. 2015-303, which has replaced Decree No. 2001-1603.
The following changes have been brought about:

• There is provision for the electronic filing of trade mark applications, although we understand that such filings are not yet possible.
• There are provisions dealing with trade mark registration through the Madrid Protocol.
• The term within which the trade mark applicant can file observations to a trade mark opposition has been increased from 45 days to two months from the date of notification of the opposition.
• There is now an eight-month term from the date of submission of the observations within which the parties can seek conciliation of the opposition.
• The period within which an opponent may file proof of use of the trade mark on which the opposition is based is increased from one month to two months.
• There is now a two-month term for the filing of any documentation that may be required in order to support transactions such as a change of name, a change of address, or an assignment.

Oman - plant varieties

A useful, brief, summary from good friends Saba & Co in their June 2015 newsletter (here) on the publication of the implementing regulations of Royal Decree No. 49 of 2009 promulgating the Law on the Protection of Breeders’ Rights in New Varieties of Plants.

They report that:

• applications may now be filed with the General Directorate for Plant and Animal Research at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. 
• filing requirements stipulate that applications must include a title and a full description, along with seeds and any other information or samples that may be requested by the authorities concerned. The protection term is 25 years for trees and grapevines, and 20 years for other plant varieties. 
• renewal fees will have to be paid annually from the filing date.

They then include a useful summary table setting some information about Cyprus, Egypt, India, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the UAE.

Tunisia - New Amounts, in Swiss francs, of the Individual Fee under the Madrid Agreement and Protocol

News from WIPO that the individual fee for Tunisia has changed:

New Amounts, in Swiss francs, of the Individual Fee in Respect of Several Contracting Parties
In accordance with Rule 35(2)(d) of the Common Regulations under the Madrid Agreement and Protocol, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) shall establish new amounts, in Swiss francs, of an individual fee where, for more than three consecutive months, the official exchange rate of the United Nations between the Swiss franc and the currency used to express the amounts of that individual fee is lower than the last exchange rate applied by at least 10%.

As those conditions have been met, the Director General of WIPO has established new amounts, in Swiss francs, of the individual fee payable in respect of the following Contracting Parties:

Mexico, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Turkmenistan.

The new amounts will be applicable as from September 13, 2015.

For further information, please refer to Information Notices Nos. 31/2015 to 34/2015

WIPO - PCT country guides

This part of the Empty Quarter recently added some further newsletters to a subscription on the WIPO website as part of WIPO changing to a new WIPO e-newsletter platform. As a result this part of the Empty Quarter now knows about the WIPO PCT Applicant's Guide (here) which provides a very large amount of very useful information on Receiving Offices, International Searching Authorities, Supplementary Search, International Preliminary Examining Authorities, Deposits of Biological Material, and National Chapters on the National Phase.

There are entries for the UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan (presumably North), Syria, and Tunisia.

The newsletter from WIPO reports that the National Chapter on Qatar has been updated.

UPDATE: A further newsletter from WIPO received today provides a link to the updated Annex C - Receiving Offices for Qatar which can be found here. 

This part of the Empty Quarter has a firm belief that as much information as possible should be freely available to all and is delighted to see so much information being shared by WIPO.

European patent validation: EPO signs pact with Tunisia

A very useful note on this news from the Afro-IP blog here.

Tunisian Customs organise open house information fair to celebrate World Customs Day

News reaches this part of the Empty Quarter of a two day open house information fair being held by Tunisian Customs on 24 and 25 January 2014 to celebrate World Customs Day.  Participants will be customs users (professional organisations, businesses, private sector representatives, civil and consumer associations). There will be presentations on the modernisation of Tunisian Customs and workshops by rights holders on the risks of counterfeits and how to identify counterfeit products.

The workshops are being organised by the Bureau of International Cooperation at the Directorate General of Customs (bci@douane.gov.tn).

WCO Operational seminar in Tunisia from 9th to 13 December 2013

News that that WCO will organize an operational seminar in Tunisia. Five countries will be involved (Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt) . The seminar will take place in Tunis. Rights holders who are members of the WCO IPM program are allowed to present to the officials.

Tunisia - joins the Madrid Protocol

Following an earlier post (here) an announcement from WIPO that Tunisia has now joined the Madrid Protocol (here)

Eid Al Adha 2013 holidays

With thanks to good friends SMAS, who sent this out today, here is a table of government holidays across the region:

Bahrain - Monday 14 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013Egypt - Monday 14 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Iraq - Tuesday 15 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Jordan - Monday 14 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Kuwait - Friday 11 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Lebanon - Tuesday 15 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Libya - Monday 14 October 2013 to Sunday 20 October 2013
Morocco - Wednesday 16 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Oman - Monday 14 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Palestine - Sunday 13 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Qatar - Sunday 13 October 2013 to Sunday 20 October 2013
Saudi Arabia - Thursday 10 October 2013 to Sunday 20 October 2013
Sudan - Saturday 12 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Syria - Sunday 13 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Tunisia - Tuesday 15 October 2013 to Wednesday 16 October 2013
U.A.E - Saturday 12 October 2013 to Saturday 19 October 2013
Yemen - Sunday 13 October 2013 to Sunday 20 October 2013

Tunisia - delays at the Trade Mark Office

News that there are significant delays at the Trade Mark Office in Tunisia with registration certificates taking three to four years to be issued after the end of the opposition period.

This part of the Empty Quarter feels that delays are not in the interests of anyone involved in the process of trade mark registration and wonders what can possibly be so difficult about producing a certificate that simply reproduces details which are set out in an application and should be set out in the Trade Mark Office's own systems.

Tunisia - joining the Madrid Protocol

An announcement from WIPO yesterday (22 July 2013) that the Madrid Protocol (1989) will enter into force, with respect to the Republic of Tunisia, on October 16, 2013.

Full text of the announcement here. An always useful summary on the Afro-IP blog here.

This part of the Empty Quarter likes the Madrid Protocol as it can reduce the cost of filing in multiple countries making protection more affordable for many.

Update 30 July 2013: Information notice No. 26/2013 relating the Accession to the Madrid protocol by Tunisia is now available on the WIPO website here. 

Domain name news from Egypt, Sudan, and Tunisia

The Com Laude (www.comlaude.com) newsletter is packed with interesting news presented clearly and concisely covering all things domain related from around the world. The Winter 2012 Newsletter is not yet on their website but reports developments in Egypt, Sudan and Tunisia. 

For Egypt Com Laude report: ".eg - second-level for marks. The Egyptian Registry, EUN, has lifted restrictions on .EG domains for trademark holders. since 12 November 2012, second-level .EG domain names have been available for holders of trade marks registered in Egypt either regionally, through the Egyptian Trademarks Office, or internationally through WIPO. Previously a local presence was required. Domains should match the trademark registration, however they may not be used for websites which go against local traditional and conventional ethics, for example gambling, alcoholic beverages, or sexual websites. Domains must be used by the owner only and shouldn't be sold to any institution unless related to the registered owner. It is estimated that there are just under 30 million Internet users in Egypt, a country which famously severed the majority of its Internet connection amid growing unrest in January 2011."


For Sudan Com Laude report: " Sudan passes IDN String Evaluation. ICANN has announced the successful completion of the string Evaluation on the proposed Arabic IDN ccTLD string for sudan. The IDN (Internationalised Domain Name) ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved by the ICANN Board at its annual meeting in seoul, south Korea on 30 October 2009 and enables countries and territories to submit requests to ICANN for IDN ccTLDs, representing their respective country or territory names in scripts other than Latin. 31 requests have successfully passed through the string Evaluation so far, including most recently мон, the Cyrillic IDN ccTLD string for Mongolia, in June 2012."


For Tunisia Com Laude report: " .tunis in Arabic - “Go Live” begins. The Tunisian Internet Agency, ATI, is hoping to encourage the development of Arabic content and increase the visibility of local content internationally through the launch of the new Arabic IDN (.tunis). The Go Live Period is now open to anyone who wants to register. The new extension currently accounts for 2.79%of the 16,917 domains registered in Tunisia, a country with an estimated population of just under 10.7 million."

This part of the Empty Quarter thanks Com Laude for their excellent newsletter and for news about goings on with domains in the sand.