MoroccoTech Launch Puts Intellectual Property Rights in the Spotlight

Rabat – The launch of Morocco’s new MoroccoTech brand was marred by minor controversy as national media revealed a blatant example of the lack of attention to intellectual property (IP) rights in Morocco.

The domain name for the MoroccoTech brand was revealed to be owned by the private company Media Mobility, which is owned by the vice-president of Morocco’s Federation of Telecommunication Information Technologies and Offshoring (APEBI).

APEBI, one of the primary partners of MoroccoTech, has the specific mission to promote the interest of the IT industry and support the sector’s development in Morocco. As a representative of the industry that MoroccoTech aims to boost, the lack of awareness of the importance of ownership over its own brand shocked many.

Although the event caused uproar in the media, many experts remained unsurprised by the event as IP rights have not been at the forefront of decision-making in Morocco.

Data from the International Property Rights Alliance, which produces the International Property Rights Index (IPRI), reveals that Morocco has significant room for improvement when it comes to the protection of intellectual property rights.

Morocco currently ranks 52nd out of 129 nations when it comes to the protection of IP rights. Within the MENA region, Morocco is outdone by 7 out of 15 countries when it comes to IP. While Morocco’s rating has slowly increased over the years, the country still gets a grade of 5.8 in the IPRI.

Innovation-based economy

As Morocco increasingly presents itself as a hub not just for trade and manufacturing but also as a destination for technology and innovation, the lack of attention paid to the protection of IP rights provides a potential barrier to entry for many of the world’s most innovative companies and entrepreneurs.

Intellectual property rights are meant to protect innovative ideas and allow parties to benefit from their non-tangible innovations, creations and ideas. Intellectual property rights (IPR) generally take the legal form of trade marks, patents, copyright and registered brands. A strong IPR regime affords companies and individuals automatic protection of their ideas.

IP has evolved into one of the most valued assets for companies worldwide. Allowing businesses to profit from their ideas, they have fueled the business growth of some of the largest technology firms, including Apple, Google, Samsung and media franchiches from ranging from Pokemon to Star Wars.

Protecting the IPR of creators has been a prime concern for tech-friendly countries, with Switzerland, Singapore and New Zealand topping the IPRI list.

While Morocco has signed up to a long list of treaties, agreements and conventions on IPR, within the country the overall business mindset appears to be less conscious of the importance of intellectual property rights.

Attracting and fostering innovators

MoroccoTech describes itself as a “commitment to embrace digital technologies as a founding pillar, a core component of its New Development Model.” A glitzy 10-hour long launch in Arabic, French and, noticeably, English, expounded on the new “vision” and how it aims to claim leadership in the world’s digital transformation.

With Morocco’s lofty ambitions on the technology and innovation front, the problematic affair about its new brand’s domain name not being owned by the organization itself serves as an apt reminder that even the most forward-thinking Moroccan initiatives do not take seriously the importance of IPR in our modern economic landscape.

MoroccoTech is ostensibly a “movement that recognizes the talents of millions of Moroccans,” yet it showed a similar disregard for its own IP as many in Morocco continue to do. In our globalized world, Morocco has the opportunity to rapidly improve its IP mindfulness, in order to protect the ideas, designs and innovations that Moroccan talent produces.

Intellectual property rights are governed by the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property (OMPIC), yet for many, IPR remains far from a top priority.

Changing mentalities

Morocco would stand to benefit from a renewed focus on informing the public about the importance of IPR, simplifying procedures to register and protect ideas and brands, and restructure the bureaucratic process required to ensure IPR protection.

Protecting IPR in Morocco means protecting innovation, a major pillar of Morocco’s vision of the future. As Morocco continues to rank 77th out of 132 economies on innovation, protecting IPR through a simple, clear new IP regime would help ensure companies and innovators would feel confident to not only sell, but develop their ideas and products within Moroccan borders.

Moroccan society is evolving from an agricultural economy with large amounts of illiterate employees to an information economy fueled by a new generation of well-educated youth. This young talent, their ideas and designs deserve proper attention and protection for their intellectual property, just as is the case for their physical property.

Patents, brands, trademarks and copyright have become the most valued assets for many international companies over the past decades. Legal disputes over IPR infringement are a daily battle for many of the world’s top innovators.

If Morocco indeed wishes to attract such parties to its shores, a renewed national focus on IPR would give a strong signal to the world that Morocco is genuinely open for business, and able to protect those who bring their ideas to the country.

Meanwhile, Morocco is home to thousands of innovators, creators, inventors and designers who deserve to feel confident that their ideas will receive the protection they deserve.

Morocco can do so by simplifying procedures, informing the public, and creating a central point for IPR procedures that is as transparent, digital, and modern as Morocco aims to become in the years ahead.