Pursuant to the Egyptian Company Law No. 4/2018 and its Executive Regulations No. 16/2018 on the amendments to some provisions of the Executive Regulations No. 96/1982 for Joint Stock Companies, Partnerships Limited by Shares and Limited Liability, Article No. 299 bis of the Executive Regulation, stipulated the essence and kinds of split-up, “Companies may be split into two companies or more where each company emerged from such split-up process, shall have a separate juristic personality once it is registered at the Commercial Registry in Egypt. Split-up is the separation between the company and its assets or activities”.

Split-up Types in Egypt are:

Horizontal: It is the type in which shares held by shareholders appeared before the split-up of the company;

Vertical: It is the type in which a part of the assets or activities are split-up in new subsidiary or a new affiliated company, which is the subject of the split-up.

Within the split-up process, the assets and liabilities of the company in Egypt are valuated according to the book value. In special cases and after obtaining the approval from the Authority, valuation may be carried out on other bases according to controls determined by the Authority. Shareholders’ Equity in terms of the company capital, reserves and retained earnings shall be split according to the resolution issued by the extraordinary general assembly or the group of partners, as the case may be.

The company, which continues its business, having the same juristic personality, and from which a company emerged, shall be called “the Splitting Company”, while the emerged company shall be called “the Split Company”.

The split-up draft shall be carried out in specific methods; either with the same company assets or shares, or by amending the shares number or the share nominal value, or by issuing new shares for “the Split Company” in the light of what shares are owned by “the Splitting Company”; however, in the last case, the valuation method issued from the committee competent in evaluating the in-kind portions, shall be carried out according to the regulations and conditions prescribed in Articles No. 26 and 27 of the Executive Regulation.

* The most important point of these conditions:

Hiring a real estate expert accredited to the Egyptian Stock Exchange to inspect the assets in kind and estimate their market value. For example, inspecting the plots of land and buildings on which a tourism project is established and estimating its market value after the split-up decision, which results in raising the value of land and buildings and all its facilities for a high value that leads to raising the in-kind shares to twice their value (if estimated less than that at the time of incorporation). Then comes the stage of inspection by the Economic Performance Committee.

Article No. 299 bis provides that: the company board of directors shall be responsible for preparing the split-up draft, particularly including the assets and liabilities of the splitting company and the split companies emerged therefrom, which include the following data, for presentation to the extraordinary general assembly or the group of partners, and which includes the following data:

1. Split-up reasons;
2. Split-up method of assets, liabilities and the shares nominal value of the emerged companies;
3. The detailed draft, particularly including assets and liabilities of each of the companies resulting from the split-up, accompanied by a report in the opinion of the auditor;
4. The default financial statements of the splitting company and the companies resulting from split-up on the basis of assets, liabilities and shareholders’ equity in addition to the revenues and expenses of activities subject of the split-up for two years before the split-up, accompanied by a report of the auditor’s opinion;
5. Draft of articles of incorporation and the Articles of Association of the splitting company and the companies resulting from split-up in addition to the draft amendment of the splitting company article of association.
6. The position of the companies resulting from split-up in terms of registration or continuation of registration in the Egyptian Stock Exchange and the action taken by the company towards the opposing shareholders;
7. A memorandum including the opinion of the company legal advisor, denoting the extent to which the split-up is compatible with the applicable legal rules as well as the extent to which the company complies with all due legal procedures;
8. The agreements related to creditors’ rights after the split-up with the splitting company and split companies, and the measures taken towards the bondholders of all types.

In all cases, the approval of the Company’s Extraordinary General Assembly or group of partners, as the case may be, on the split-up shall be issued by a majority representing three quarters of the capital shares, unless the company’s articles of association stipulate a higher percentage than that, provided that split-up resolution must include the following:

“The number of shareholders or partners, their names, and the percentage of their ownership in the companies resulting from split-up as well as the rights and liabilities of each of them, and the distribution of the company’s assets and liabilities among them”.

Similarly, the company board of directors may, before presenting the split-up draft before the company’s extraordinary general assembly, submit the documents of the split-up draft to the General Authority for Investment, GAFI, in order to obtain the opinion of the Authority before the implementation of the draft.

The approval of the Investment Authority shall be issued on the procedures for issuing the shares of the splitting company after the amendment and on the procedures for issuing the shares of the split companies. The commercial register shall approve the amendment of the capital of the splitting company, and the registration of the split companies based on the approval of the Authority, provided that the shares of the companies resulting from the split-up are traded immediately after the issuance thereof, unless there are restrictions imposed on the trading of such shares in whole or in part.

Legal subrogation by the companies resulting from split-up:

The companies resulting from split-up shall act as successors of the “Splitting Company” and shall legally subrogate it in relation to the rights and liabilities thereof, and within the limits of the part devolving thereto from the company subject of the split-up according to the split-up resolution. Also, the split-up shall not result in any detriment to the rights of the creditors and holders of bonds and financing instruments issued by the company before the split-up. In addition, in order for the split-up to be valid and enforced, an approval shall be obtained from the creditors and the holders of bonds and instruments.

For more information please contact us mail@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com

Joint ownership of a trademark is when two or more parties, whether natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations jointly own the rights to possess, use, benefit from, and dispose of the same registered trademark. These rights can be exercised jointly by joint owners or severally. However, any several use should not prevent the use of such rights by any other joint owner or owners.

The filing of a jointly owned trademark is the same as filing a regular trademark and follows the same procedures, with the difference being that the application is to be filed in the name of the joint owners of the trademark. It is permissible that joint owners hail from different jurisdictions.

Assignment:
Together, the joint owners can sell/license/assign the mark to a new party that may be interested to carry out business under the trade-name. A joint owner may only license or assign his rights to a new party with the consent of all the other joint owners. If a joint owner gives up his right, the right so given up will be enjoyed by the other joint owner or owners.

Dissolution:
In a case of dissolution of the jointly owned trademark, each joint owner of the mark, shall not be eligible to use the mark any further on a several basis; the complete bundle of rights shall be dissolved instantly and shall not be available for single-use.

Neither of the owners shall be said to be the absolute owner of the mark except if the joint owners of the trademark all together agree to transfer the rights (through assignment) to either of them, to carry forward the business independently under the same joint trade-name.

No individual owner of the mark shall be allowed to use the mark or any related mark either severally or in association unless a clear permission has been given by all the joint owners of the earlier mark. Also, neither of the party shall be severally allowed to take any credit for the mark or the goodwill or revenue generated by the use of the jointly owned trademark.

For more information please contact our Trademarks Department trademarks@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com

After a long wait, preparation, and as a tangible initial step, Egypt has finally issued and published its first Data Protection Law on the 15th of July 2020 “the Law”; covering natural persons digital personal data, excluding some data out of the scope of application, as enclosed in article 3 of the Law, including personal data processed for official statistics or in the application of a legal provision, personal data related to judicial reports, investigations and claims, as well as the Central Bank of Egypt (“CBE”), and most of the entities subject to its supervision.

1. Enforceability
The Law shall come into force on the 14th of October 2020, where its Executive Regulation is planned to be issued within 6 months of the Law’s issuance (approximately by April, 2021).

2. Compliance time-frame
All entities to which the Law is addressed i.e. Corporates processing personal data in Egypt, or outside Egypt in respect of individuals in Egypt, should fully comply with the Law’s requirements; within “a year as of the date of the Executive Regulation issuance”.

3. Data protection principles
Generally, the Law introduces a variety of compliance requirements as well as some significant criminal penalties in return; incorporating and following several internationally accepted fundamental principles of data protection law, practice and procedure. These principles will govern the practices of organisations in Egypt that collect, process and store personal data. The law imposes licensing requirements for data processing, data control, dealing in sensitive data, digital/electronic marketing, and cross-border transfer of data. The Law generally prohibits the processing of personal data except with the consent of the data owner/whom the data is relevant thereto, or where otherwise permitted by law.

4. Personal data
The Law defines “Personal Data” as any data related to an identified natural person, or to a natural person identifiable, directly or indirectly, by reference to any other data, such as name, voice, picture, identification number, online identifier, or any data that identifies psychological, health, economic, cultural or social identity.
It further defines “sensitive Personal Data” separately as Personal Data that discloses psychological, mental, physical or genetic health, biometric data, financial data, religious beliefs, political opinions or security situation; considering Personal Data relating to children is deemed to be sensitive personal Data.

5. Data owners’ rights
Data owners/ whom the data is relevant thereto have various rights under the Law; including:
• The right to know what personal data is being processed, by whom, and to access same;
• The right to withdraw their consent in respect of processing personal data;
• The right to correct, modify, delete, add or update his/her personal data;
• The right to limit processing of his/her personal data within a limited scope; and
• The right to be notified of any personal data breach involving his/her personal data.

6. Holders, Controllers and Processors
The Law assigns different titles to entities based on how they process personal information/personal data (classifying them into holders, controllers and processors, all defined in the Law); where these titles affect the specific obligations imposed thereon aside, since in addition to the core data protection principles imposed by the Law, a number of explicit obligations are imposed on each of the controllers and processors regarding the personal data they have.

7.Regulating body
The Law prescribes establishing an Egyptian Data Protection Centre/authority; to regulate data protection, enforce compliance with the law, and create further implementing regulations and mechanisms to ensure data protection, and receive and investigate complaints.
Such centre’s aim is to develop strategic plans, policies, and programs required to protect personal data, where it will coordinate with all governmental and non-governmental bodies to execute protection measures. It will comprise of representatives from many authorities including Information Technology Industry Development Authority, National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, the Administrative Control Authority, as well as ministries of Defence, Interior, Foreign affairs, and General Intelligence Service Agency. In addition, the centre is tasked with issuing licences or permits authorising certain restricted types of personal data processing; as prescribed in the Law.

8. Data protection officer
The Law obliges entities processing personal data (either as Controllers or Processors, as both defined in the Law) to appoint a Data Protection Officer to be responsible for i.e. monitoring the organization’s compliance with the law, conducting regular inspections and acting as a point of contact with the Data protection center on issues relating to compliance; such officer shall be registered at the (yet to be established) Egyptian Data Protection Centre/authority, or else these entities shall be exposed to financial penalties of up to 2 million Egyptian Pounds.

9. Data breach reporting
The law requires the addressed entities to report cyber-attacks within 24 hours; however, if the attack threatens national security, companies must report it immediately.

10. Data cross-border transfer
The Law recognises that transfers of personal data to other countries can give rise to risks for the data, the individual and the transferring organisation, that’s why, subject to certain exceptions, the Law contains a general prohibition on the transfer of personal data to recipients located outside Egypt except with the permission of the (yet to be established) Egyptian Data Protection Centre/authority; and where the level of protection provided in the country where the data is to be transferred is not less than that provided in Egypt, pursuant to the Law. The Executive Regulation shall specify the policies, standards, guidelines, and rules necessary for transferring personal data across borders.

11. Digital/Electronic Marketing
The Law includes electronic/digital marketing in its provisions in relevancy with data protection; providing specific requirements governing same. It requires prior license and consent as a legal basis for direct electronic marketing. In addition, it grants data owners/who the data is related thereto the right to withdraw any previous consent.

12. Individuals’ rights
As with most modern data protection laws that take a principles-based approach, the Law grants individuals a number of rights in relation to their personal data. Individual rights under data protection law are designed to enable individuals to exercise control over how their personal data may be processed. In addition to the access rights, the data owner/to whom the data is related, shall have the right to submit a request to the holder, controller and/or processor regarding the former’s practice of his/her rights under the data protection law; where the party whom the request is submitted to shall reply within 6 working days of the request. Also, notwithstanding the right to refer the matter to litigation, the data owner/to whom the data is related and/or whoever has the capacity shall be entitled to submit a complaint before the yet to be established Data protection centre; where the opponent shall comply with the centre’s decision within 7 days.

13. Sanctions and Penalties
The Law also provides for a variety of criminal offences, with a range of penalties – including fines reaching EGP 3,000,000 and imprisonment; for, without limitation:
• Collecting, processing, disclosing, providing access to, or circulating personal data, by any means, other than with the consent of the data owner/to whom the data is related, or as otherwise permitted by law;
• Processing personal data other than in accordance with the personal data protection law;
• Preventing a data owner/to whom the data is related from exercising rights granted pursuant to the Personal Data Protection Law;
• Failure of a data controller or data processor to comply with specific obligations, and notification/reporting requirements, as specified in the Law;
• Failure to appoint a Data Protection Officer, or to provide the same with essential requirements to perform duties;
• Failure of a Data Protection Officer to perform duties as specified in the Law;
• Transferring personal data in a way not in accordance with the Law; and
• Failure to comply with electronic/digital marketing requirements pursuant to the Law.

In this regard, the Law determines acts punishable by imprisonment specifically as follows:
i) breach of the conditions for cross border transfer of data,
ii) dealing in sensitive data without the explicit and written consent of the data owner/to whom the data is related or in breach of the relevant provisions under the Law,
iii) any data processor or controller that deals in personal data in breach of the relevant provisions under the Law or without the consent of the data owner/to whom the data is related, when applicable, in exchange for a benefit or with the intent to expose the data owner/to whom the data is related to danger or harm; and,
iv) preventing the representatives of the data protection centre from preforming their duties.

The Law also specifically allows for reconciliations or settlements outside of court with the aggrieved individual(s) and/or the yet to be established Data protection Centre.
The yet to be established Data protection Centre is also empowered to issue warnings for instances of non-compliance and to suspend or revoke any license or permit previously issued to the offending controller or processor.

Ultimately, one of the purposes of the issuance of this data protection law is to help Egypt provide adequate protection for the personal data and rights of Egyptian citizens, creating a healthy economic environment where Egypt is able to trade effectively – including the need for cross-border data transfers.

The said Law should also work throughout the upcoming period to enhance the attractiveness of Egypt to foreign investors by providing a clear framework for processing personal data; after the issuance of its executive regulation.

The executive regulation is expected to include the explanation of all the details of implementing the provisions enclosed in the Law; including without limitation the mechanism the data protection centre shall work with.

For more information please contact mail@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com

In accordance with Egyptian Trademark Law, trademark registrations are valid for ten years from the date of filing the trademark application and may be renewed every ten years without limitations. To keep the trademark valid, the applicant must file a renewal application and pay the prescribed renewal fees before Egyptian Trademark Office any time within the last year of the protection period.

Nevertheless, if the application is not renewed within the stipulated timeframe, there is a six month grace period, during which the application may be renewed against a surcharge. If the mark is not renewed within the grace period, it shall be cancelled.

However, a cancelled mark may be re-registered by the same proprietor within three years from the last renewal date against payment of a fine. Article 92 of the Intellectual Property Law 82 of 2002 grants the trademark a six month renewal grace period and another 30 months for the restoration of the trademark. During this time, the trademark is considered valid against any other trademark until the end of grace period. Accordingly, it may appear as a cited trademark in Registrar’s rejection decision to another identical trademark filed by the same owner or a third party.

For more information please contact our Trademarks Department trademarks@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com

A number of trademark applications are being rejected on the basis of conflict with an existing local or international registered trademark in Egypt. However, upon conducting a market investigation, the client finds that most of the trademark citations arising in the office action not active or have not been seriously used.

Use of the trademark decreases the risk of a non-use cancellation action. If a registered trademark is not used within five years of the registration date, third parties may seek to cancel it on the grounds of non-use based on Article 91 of the Egyptian IP Law No. 82/2002, which provides that: “The competent court may, upon request by any interested party, issue an enforceable decision to cancel the registration if it appears to the court that the mark has not been seriously used for a period of five consecutive years.” The same also applies to international trademark registrations that are designated into Egypt.

Therefore, valid registrations can be used to attack a third party application or registration. For example, if registration is relied upon as a ground for attacking a third party mark in an opposition or cancellation action and the registration has been on the Register for more than five years, then it is almost certain that the party whose mark is being attacked will, if the opposition or cancellation proceeds, ask for proof that the mark has been used in the preceding five years. If this cannot be satisfactorily shown, then the registration concerned will be disregarded in the proceedings as regards the goods/services on which use cannot be proved, unless there is a satisfactory reason for non-use. Such “proof of use” can also be demanded of a proprietor of trademark registration being relied upon as the basis of an infringement action.

Article 19 of the TRIPS Agreement, to which Egypt is a party, provides that: “If use is required to maintain a registration, the registration may be canceled only after an uninterrupted period of at least three years of non-use, unless valid reasons based on the existence of obstacles to such use are shown by the trademark owner.”

First, the applicant must file a response to the official action as issued by the TMO and consequently consider filing a cancelation action based on non-use grounds, supported by evidentiary market surveys. The trademark owner can therefore conduct negotiations with the owners of those inactive trademarks for the purchase and assignment of the dormant trademarks thus avoiding the judicial proceedings, either as a plaintiff or defendant. This course of action often helps the applicant save a significant amount of time in the prosecution of their application.

For more information please contact our Trademarks Department trademarks@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com

Before we begin to define the difference between three-dimensional [3D] trademarks and industrial drawings and designs in the light of Law 82/2002, we should first mention that 3D trademarks protect the shape of products and make them more distinguishable in the market from other products resulting from competition. Consequently, consumers can recognize a particular trademark product more easily and distinguish it with the naked eye from other trademarks that offer similar products on the market while industrial drawings and designs protect 3D forms that take a special appearance of novelty and are industrially applicable.

Although Part One of Book Two of Law 82/2002 pertaining to trademark registration did not expressly provide that 3D marks would not be registered, Article 63 of the said Law did not include 3D forms in the trademark classification. However, Article 119 of this Law in Part Two of Book Two clearly provides that the form must be a three-dimensional [3D], and must give a special appearance of novelty and be industrially applicable.

In this regard, we explain that the principle of novelty prevents the possibility of registering an industrial design or form that lacks the novelty requirement and that is why some companies try to register a form as a three-dimensional trademark. In addition, the maximum protection period of the industrial design is 15 years while the trademark protection period is infinite.

It is worth noting that the Trademark Department refuses to register 3D marks, whether they are presented locally or an extension of protection as trademarks. Even in discussing the matter before the appeal committee, the committee insists on rejecting the 3D marks. We attribute this refusal to their reliance on the judgment of the Egyptian Administrative Court issued on July 19, 1960 in the case No. 249/11 J in the lawsuit filed by Coca-Cola against the Egyptian Ministry of Trade in connection with the application to register the Coca-Cola bottle as a trademark of the well-known soft drinks. According to the judgment of the Administrative Court, “the mark can be a manufactured commodity, as in the containers and casings in which industrial products are packed as long as the packaging has a distinctive shape.” Opinion in jurisprudence has tended to distinguish between the special form that is distinctive as a trademark, however, the shape of the item itself may not be registered, no matter how unique it may be as a trademark, but rather be protected in accordance with the established rules for the protection of industrial designs.

For more information please contact our Patents Department
Email: patents@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com

Egypt has joined the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) on December 1, 2019 after UPOV has approved joining Egypt to the union, and issuance of the Egyptian law no. 144 of 2019, which included amendments to the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Law No. 82 of 2002 in accordance with the provisions of the agreement.

It is known that there is no worldwide standard legal system for the protection of new varieties of plants, since countries legislations take a varying stand regarding the protection of new varieties of plants, wherein the United States of America applies two types of protection to the varieties of plants according to specific law system for protecting the varieties of plants, while most of European countries prohibit patenting of animals and plants varieties, including Egypt.

It worth mentioning that article 1(2) of UPOV convention of 1978 does not allow the breeder to combine the two types of protection at the same time, nevertheless UPOV convention of 1991 is silent about similar wording, afterwards allowed the members of UPOV to have two types of protection for the plant variety by a patent and the system of protection set forth in the convention at the same time, which is applied by some countries, such as the United States of America.

The new varieties of plants are protected if the requirements of protection are met, whether obtained by sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction, as it protects the new varieties of plants obtained by genetic engineering.

Although the developing countries are rich with most of genera, varieties and strains of plants and animals, however, they do not either realize the value of this genetic wealth or how to utilize the same. The biological wealth in the developing countries has been seized and utilized to obtain patents in the developed countries without any consideration for developing countries. One of the top examples clarifying the patent infringement for the patents registered in some countries which relate to plants cultivated in India since a long time and the most important of them are turmeric plants, neem, and a variety of rice. Further, in Egypt, Egyptian seeds of medicinal and aromatic plants were discovered stolen, and genetic engineering was inserted into its seeds and registered in the name of other countries and produced as a national yield having an economic return, one of which was Jew’s mallow “Molokhaih”, wherein Japan has taken all Jew’s mallow seeds types, which are registered in the patents department in the agricultural research center, and genetic engineering was inserted into them and then they have been utilized in the medicaments of cholesterol, stomach ulcer, diabetes and blood diseases.

Egypt’s accession to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants is an achievement for the Egyptian agricultural sector seeking for providing the protection of the varieties of plants in order to promote and develop the production of new and distinguished varieties of plants which gives the right to plant breeders if the variety was new and distinguished. Moreover, the benefit will be significant for Egypt after becoming an active member instead of being an observer member of the organization; hereby Egypt will have the right to import all kinds of seeds from the member countries and will be able to export the new varieties to abroad, which renders Egypt a market for producing and exporting seeds and gives it a great opportunity for agricultural investment. It also protects the registered Egyptian varieties from exploitation and theft.

For more information please contact our Patents Department
Email: patents@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com

Geographical Indications (GI) are defined by the WIPO as “A sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. A sign must identify a product as originating in a given place. In addition, the qualities, characteristics or reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin”. GI rights are territorial and are limited to the country/region where protection is granted and identify a good as originating from a specific geographical location. GI Rights enable right holders to use the GI on their products and to prevent its use by third parties whose products do not conform to set standards and criteria.

In Egypt, there is no specific system for the protection of GIs; however, in practice, the Egyptian Trademark Office has been known to reject any trademark that includes a geographical indication, city name or national/international identifier in accordance with Law No. 82 of 2002. Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, art 67(8) provides that, “The following shall not be registered as trademarks or components thereof…Marks and geographical indications which are likely to mislead or confuse the public or which contain false descriptions as to the origin of products, whether goods or services, or their other qualities, as well as the signs that contain an indication of a fictitious, imitated or forged trade name.”

In other cases, whereby the alleged GI is not a main element of the trademark, the registrar may issue a conditional acceptance asking for the disclaimer or deletion of the same from the trademark since it is considered misleading to the public about the origin, quality, and characteristics of the product.

GIs cannot yet be registered in Egypt, and therefore, to avoid citations, the proprietor must ensure that any allusion is removed prior to filing.

For more information please contact our Trademarks Department trademarks@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com

Unlike other forms of intellectual property, trademarks can be everlasting if they are renewed on time and the trademark owner is actively using the mark relation to the goods/services registered. Pursuant to the article 90 of Egyptian IP Law No. 82/2002 which stipulates “The period of protection conferred by the registration of the mark is 10 years, renewable for an identical period or periods upon request of its owner and every time within the last year of the protection period, against payment of the fees due for the initial registration application ………”.

However, a trademark may be venerable to a non-use cancellation action by any interested third party if the trademark has not been seriously used for a period of five consecutive years by the trademark owner or any third parties licensed by the owner. Authorized third party use must be based on a license or sub-license agreement registered before the Egyptian trademark office. Unrecorded licensed agreements cannot not be claimed against any party in accordance with article 65 of Egyptian IP Law No. 82/2002 which stipulates “The person who has registered a trademark and who has made use of it for a period of five years as of the date of its registration, shall be deemed the owner of such a trademark, unless precedence of use by a third party is proven. A prior user of the mark may, within the said period of five years, challenge the validity of its registration. The registration of a mark may, however, be challenged at any time, where the registration is made in bad faith.”

A number of remedies can be made to protect a registered trademark against cancellation actions by any third party whereby the applicant is required to prove that the mark has been in use for a period of five consecutive years from the registration date.

Use of the trademark should include all the trademark elements registered and not a part of these elements separately. The use such use should preserve or create market share.

The following activities may qualify as use of the trademark:
(a) Use by an authorized third party by way of a recorded license agreement;
(b) marketing and advertising campaigns within a local publication for the goods/services;
(c) registration by the trademark proprietor of a local domain name using an identical trademark, with the domain showing the same field of the registered products or services;

Conversely, it is important to highlight that the following activities do not constitute as legitimate use of the trademark:
(a) Use of the trademark for goods or services different than those protected by the registration; and
(b) unrecorded licensed use by a third party; and
(c) internal business use of a mark that is not introduced to the general public, private events, or private use.

Trademarks acquire notoriety through simultaneous registration and use. Continued use of the trademark allows the proprietor to preserve their trademark rights indefinitely by way of timely renewals.

Egypt has recently been focusing on the importance of applying electronic payment methods and regulations on non-cash payments; and as a result, Egypt has issued Law no. 18/2019 in April, 2019 which obliges all state authorities, institutions and establishments, which provide services to the public, to offer electronic payment methods.

In the same context, the Central Bank of Egypt (“CBE”) has issued a framework for its fintech regulatory sandbox for its innovative financial technology lab (“IFTL”) which aims to encourage new fintech solutions in the Egyptian financial and banking sectors. The IFTL accepts applications from all companies providing financial technology services; however, priority is given to companies providing such services in collaboration with financial institutions.

The CBE regulations provide that banks which deal with Payment Service Providers (“PSP”) must comply with the CBE regulations; a bank may not contract with a PSP without obtaining the CBE’s approval.

Moreover, only financial institutions with a physical presence in Egypt will be subject to CBE’s supervision; accordingly, PSPs who target the Egyptian market from abroad are not subject to the CBE’s regulations, keeping in mind that the local banks and/or financial institutions that the PSP contracts with, will remain subject to CBE’s regulations.

According to the CBE’s regulations, banks shall supervise the PSP’s activities, including the PSP’s scope of services as well as insuring that PSPs do not engage in any prohibited activities under Egyptian Laws such as gambling, virtual currencies, lottery games, etc.

For payment facilitators who receive payments into their accounts before transferring such amounts to merchants, they must comply with the below regulations:
– Have a physical presence in Egypt and an established company with a valid Commercial Register;
– Have a physical address in Egypt;
– Have a website;

On a final note, all payments made in Egypt shall be made local currency, Egyptian Pound.

To conclude, Egypt is becoming one of the best jurisdictions in the region for relevant startups to operate in due to the focus on the importance on fintech and non-cash payment solutions.

For any enquiries in relation to fintech regulations or company incorporation in Egypt, please contact mail@eldibold.stg.xlabgroup.com