Classified 22nd, Morocco remains the leader in Africa

The US Chamber of Commerce (US Chamber of Commerce) published, this Tuesday, April 15, the 13th edition of its International IP Index (International Intellectual Property Index 2025). The index assesses the intellectual property systems of the 55 global economies according to 53 specific criteria.

For Morocco, the index maintains its 22nd row – the same position of the previous edition – on the basis of 53 specific criteria. Criteria that includes patents, brands, copyright, trade secrets, market access and ratification of international treaties.

In this ranking, Morocco remains a leader in Africa and the Arab region.

Indeed, with an overall score of 59.21 out of 100, the kingdom won the 1st position in Africa, ahead of countries like Ghana (38th in the world), Kenya (42nd), South Africa (46th), Nigeria (47th), Egypt (48th) and Algeria (53rd).

In the Arab world, Morocco is also at the top of the ranking, followed by Saudi Arabia (25th), the United Arab Emirates (29th) and Jordan (35th).

In the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa), Morocco is 2nd, behind Israel (world 19th).

It is clear that this success of Morocco is not the result of chance. It underlines, in fact, the commitment of the kingdom in favor of the protection of intellectual property and its efforts to promote innovation and creativity on its territory.

In this wake, the report emphasizes some advantages available to Morocco in terms of intellectual property. first asset raised: its free trade agreements with the USA, on the one hand, and the EU, on the other hand, encouraged it to strengthen its intellectual property environment and related standards.

Second asset: its national intellectual property system is fairly well developed.

Third asset: the Moroccan intellectual property office (OMPIC) offers validation of all patents recorded with the European Patent Organization (OEB).

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Under this agreement, all the eligible patents filed directly with this European organization can be registered in Morocco. “Patent depositors can designate Morocco with EU countries, and OEB patents have the same legal effects as a national patent and are subject to Moroccan law. The number of European patent applications designating Morocco has doubled since 2015 to reach an average of approximately 2,000 requests per year, “it is the same source.

On the other hand, the report said that Morocco presents, nevertheless, gaps in terms of intellectual property, in particular due to a difficult application environment characterized by high levels of physical counterfeiting and online hacking. “As indicated in previous editions of the index, one of the main challenges for rights holders in Morocco has long been the absence of effective measures to combat copyright hacking, in particular with regard to the decoding of satellite signals and the hacking of radio signals,” writes the report.

“Decoders are easily available and used in North Africa and Morocco to illegally access content protected by copyright,” notes the report, adding that the current trend has seen a migration of physical decoders and satellite hacking towards the use of decoders and access to illicit content on the Internet via streaming.

This situation remains unchanged in 2024, rights holders reporting high levels of copyright violation, said the report.

In addition, he continues, Morocco has no specific incentive measure in terms of commercial exclusivity, based on intellectual property, for the development of orphaned drugs.

“The United States was the first economy to introduce incentives dedicated to the development and marketing of orphaned drugs, through the 1983 orphaned drug law,” it reads.

“Several economies from the Asia-Pacific region, including Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, offer legal definitions and policies relating to rare diseases and orphaned drugs, as well as research and development incentives for the development of new treatments and technologies,” notes the same source.

This world ranking is dominated by the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, then of France.

At the bottom of the table are Algeria (53rd), Russia (54th) and Venezuela (55th).