Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property (OMPIC)
Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property (OMPIC)
The Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property is a self-funded public institution whose main functions are:
- The maintenance of national registers of industrial property and registration of all acts affecting the ownership of industrial property rights (trademarks, patents, industrial designs);
- OMPIC (Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property) is the organization in charge of the respect and protection of industrial and commercial property in Morocco.
A company may need the services of the OMPIC in the following cases:
- Firstly, to establish the company. In fact, the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property is the authority in charge of issuing negative certificates. A negative certificate is a document that ensures the exclusivity of the company’s name. It allows to avoid duplicates ;
- Secondly, to protect a trade name against unfair use by competitors ;
- Thirdly, to secure patents to protect a company’s (or an individual’s) inventions ; Also, to protect trademarks, designs and industrial models;
- Finally, the organization is also responsible for issuing extracts of the trade register (Kbis), balance sheets, and legal documents.