Egypt was among the first countries in the region to adopt, in 1949, a modern legislation on patents. Law 122 of 1949 regarding patents and industrial designs was further amended by law 453 of 1953 and law 650 of 1955. Egypt’s existing laws in this area adhere to intellectual property protection.
 

Currently, a new comprehensive intellectual Property law is in the process of being submitted to the Egyptian Parliament for adoption. It will combine all related intellectual property laws into one.
 

On the level of treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Egypt is a party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1967) and the Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification (1971). At the 35th session of the WIPO Assemblies held in September 2000 in Geneva, Egypt announced its intention to take the necessary steps in order to become a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) which implements the concept of a single international Patent application that is valid in many countries.
 

As far as TRIPS is concerned, Egypt as a developing country enjoyed a five year transitional period ending January 2000. Its TRIPS national implementing legislation will be reviewed by the Council for TRIPS in June 2001.
 

On patenting chemicals and pharmaceuticals, Egypt grants protection only to processes and not to products. A number of countries exclude from patentability chemicals and food products. Article 65.4 of the TRIPS agreement gives developing countries an additional five year transitional period till January 1, 2005 before providing protection to such products.
 

In order to keep treatment costs under control and to take into account the welfare of the most vulnerable segments of the population, Egypt rejects calls to introduce immediately TRIPS standards in the area of pharmaceuticals and has consistently demanded the maximum possible delay provided in the TRIPS Agreement in this regard.