VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0084 0191201
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191201Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1383
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0440

UNCLAS CAIRO 000084 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, EB 
USAID FOR MNE 
USTR FOR MOWREY 
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/ANESA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID KIPR EG
SUBJECT:  EGYPT TO RATIFY MADRID PROTOCOL 
 
¶1.  After a December 16 joint Shura Council/People's Assembly 
Committee decision to approve the Madrid Protocol Relating to the 
Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, 
the Shura Council has approved the treaty for ratification.  The 
People's Assembly began discussion of the treaty this week.  Egypt 
has been a signatory of the Madrid Protocol since June 28, 1989 but 
never ratified the treaty, so it has not entered into force.  We 
expect the People's Assembly to approve final ratification within 
the next few weeks.  USAID-funded technical assistance projects have 
encouraged Egypt's ratification of the Protocol. 
 
¶2. US-Egyptian trade is likely to benefit from Egypt's accession to 
the Madrid Protocol.  US businesses will now be able to designate 
Egypt on their single trademark filing under the Madrid Protocol, 
rather than having to hire a local agent and file directly in the 
Egyptian Trademark Office in the Commercial Registry Administration. 
 There are also other advantages to the Protocol. For example, 
filings and correspondence can be conducted in the English-language. 
 Moreover, the Protocol is also beneficial in that it simplifies the 
subsequent management of a trademark, since a simple, single 
procedural step serves to record subsequent changes in ownership or 
the name or address of the holder with WIPO's International Bureau. 
 
¶3.  The protocol also allows Egyptian businesses to file their 
trademarks for registration in several foreign countries with a 
single filing, by simply designating the countries in which they 
want to register. Egyptian companies will have this advantage in an 
additional 27 countries or territories that have joined the Protocol 
but not the Madrid Agreement, including the United States and the 
European Union. 
Scobey