Law No. 17-97 on the Protection of Industrial Property
TITLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. For the purposes of this Law, the protection of industrial property shall have as its
subject invention patents, layout designs (topographies) for integrated circuits, industrial
designs, factory marks, trademarks or service marks, trade names, indications of source and
appellations of origin as well as the repression of unfair competition.
2. Industrial property shall be considered in the broadest sense and shall apply not only
to industry and commerce proper and to services but also to any production in the field of
agricultural and extractive industries as well as to any manufactured or natural products such
as cattle, minerals and beverages.
3. The nationals of each of the countries belonging to the International Union for the
Protection of Industrial Property shall be entitled to the protection of the industrial property
rights provided for in this Law subject to the performance of the conditions and formalities
laid down therein.
The same protection shall be afforded to the nationals of countries which are parties to
any other other treaty concluded in the field of industrial property to which Morocco is a party
that provides for no less favorable treatment for its nationals than that enjoyed by the
nationals of said countries.
4. No obligation with regard to domicile or establishment in Morocco, where protection
is sought there, shall be imposed on nationals of the Member States of the International Union
for the Protection of Industrial Property.
Natural persons or legal entities who/which do not have their domicile or head office in
Morocco or do not have any industrial or commercial establishment there, must elect domicile
with an agent who is domiciled or has his head office in Morocco, who shall be responsible
for performing on their behalf the operations to be carried out with the entity responsible for
industrial property.
Resident nationals and foreigners residing lawfully in Morocco, be they natural persons
or legal entities, may themselves file applications for industrial property titles, as well as
perform any subsequent related operations, or designate to this end an agent who is domiciled
or has his head office in Morocco.
5. Nationals from countries which do not belong to the International Union for the
Protection of Industrial Property shall be entitled to benefit from the provisions of this Law if
they are domiciled or have a real and effective industrial or commercial activity in the
territory of one of the countries of the Union.
6. Any person who has duly filed an application (first application) for an invention
patent, a certificate of addition deriving from a main patent for a layout design (topography)
for integrated circuits, an industrial design or a factory mark, trademark or service mark, in
one of the countries of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, or his
successor in title, shall enjoy, for the purpose of filing said application in Morocco
(subsequent application), a right of priority during the periods provided for in Article 7 below.
7. The period of priority mentioned above shall be 12 months for invention patents,
certificates of addition deriving from a main patent, and layout designs (topographies) for
integrated circuits, and six months for industrial designs and factory marks, trademarks and