Industrial Property in Morocco is governed by the law No. 17-97 dated December 18, 2004, as amended and completed by the two subsequent laws Nos. 31-05 of February 20, 2006 and the law 23-13 implemented on December 18, 2014.
The IP law was drafted to be in full compliance with the international standards adopted by the Paris Convention and the TRIPS Agreement to which Morocco is member state.
Oppositions can be filed only against new trademarks applications by the owners of the following rights:
Once the opposition is notified to the applicant of the opposed mark, the latter is granted two months to respond. Passing this delay and failure to reply, the TMO hands down the initial decision.
Where the applicant responds, the opponent is allowed one month to file a counter-statement.
Thereafter, each party is granted one month to file a response. The cycle of responses and counter-statements will last for a maximum period of 6 months, which can be extended only once for a term of 3 months, in which case every party will be allowed 1 month to submit observations, prior to issuance of the opposition decision, for contestation purposes within 15 days.