Via the most recent issue of the Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property Bulletin comes news that the Egyptian Patent Office President, Engineer Nadia Abdallah, issued a new amendment notification last month concerning the calculation of due dates for patent annuities.
Right: The Sphinx -- literally "prior art"
According to the Bulletin:
"The new amendment entails that patent applicants at the National Phase of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) shall pay the annual fees starting from the international filing date since it is the actual date for all countries which have been designated when the application was accepted according to Article 11/3 of the PCT.
According to Article 11 of the Law 82 for 2002 and its Implementing Regulations issued upon the prime minister’s decision No. 1366 for the year 2003, the fees shall be paid when submitting the patent application. Moreover, the annual fees shall be gradually increased starting from the second year and till the end of the patent protection period.
Patent owners or applicants are granted a six-month period to rectify their status from the issuance of the notification or the renewal date whichever is later".
