The Opposition Proceedings in Morocco are regulated by Articles 148.2 to 148.5 of Law 17/97 on the protection of the IP as amending and supplementing the Law 31/05 and articles 66.2 to 66.5 the Enforcement Decree of the law.
Time period to oppose the application in Morocco:
The time line to oppose the trademark application will depend upon the following two scenarios:
- When the application is of a national brand: within two months from the date of the publication of the said application
- When the application is of an international brand: within two months from the first day of the month following the receipt of the bulletin of international brands by Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property (hereafter referred to as “OMPIC”).
| Note: Extension is not available at any stage of opposition. |
Procedure of Opposition:
Following is the process of filing the opposition in Morocco:
- Notice of Opposition: The Moroccan Trademark Office will notify the Applicant of the trademark application and the Applicant must respond to the Notice within two months from the date of expiry of publication.
In case the Applicant does not respond within two months, the OMPIC shall give the order accordingly.
- Counter Statement and additional statement/submissions: When the Applicant responds to the notice within the aforementioned period, the Opponent will then have a period one month from the date of receipt of the response from the Applicant to file additional statement/submission.
Once, the Opponent files their additional statement, the Applicant is entitled to file their last statement/submission within one month from the date of receipt of the response from Opponent and OMPIC will notify the Opponent about the statement submitted by Applicant.
- Decision: The OMPIC shall within a period not exceeding six months shall give their decision. The extension of delay can be considered for additional period of three months, on request of one of the parties, and accepted by the OMPIC.
Appeal
The decision can be appealed before the Appeal Committee of OMPIC within 15 days from the date of decision. The decision of Appeal Committee will be considered final.
However, the Opponent has another remedy available which is to initiate the invalidation action, before the Appeal Commercial Court of Casablanca, against the final ruling of the Appeal Committee within three years from the date of filing the trademark application.