Rasha H. Abdelmagid

IP Specialist for the Middle East and North Africa

Rasha Abdelmagid serves as the U.S. intellectual property (IP) specialist for the Middle East and North Africa. Based in Abu Dhabi, Ms. Abdelmagid works for the IP attaché’s office within the U.S. embassy, where she is the principal advisor on all aspects of IP throughout the region. Her duties include monitoring and advising on complex legal and practical IP matters, evaluating regional IP developments that are most likely to affect U.S. interests and U.S. businesses, and developing and presenting a variety of USPTO capacity-building initiatives. In addition, she maintains an extensive range of senior-level contacts with business organizations, chambers of commerce, industry associations, and government ministries or offices in the region that have responsibility for IP-related issues.

Ms. Abdelmagid was previously a patent expert in the Omani Intellectual Property Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (OMIPO), where she advised Omani IP officials on domestic and international IP issues, trained patent examiners on search and examination tools and drafting technical reports, helped inventors to be aware of the patent system regarding protection and enforcement of IP, and consulted with Omani government agencies and IP law firms on Omani IP laws and legal regimes.

Prior to joining OMIPO, Ms. Abdelmagid was a patent examiner, and later a supervisor, at the Egyptian Patent Office (EGYPO) in the field of civil engineering and drilling systems. There, among other things, she led patent technical assistance for inventors through hearing sessions. She was also a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) quality sampling review committee on international patent applications, and became the head of the unit that oversaw EGYPO’s responsibilities as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the PCT. 

Ms. Abdelmagid holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the faculty of engineering of Cairo University, and a master’s degree in IP law from Turin University, Italy.

 rasha.abdelmagid@trade.gov

About the USPTO and the Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA)

Aside from the issuance of patents and registration of trademarks, USPTO has a statutory mandate to advise the President and all federal agencies, through the Secretary of Commerce, on national and international intellectual property (IP) policy issues, including IP protection in other countries. In addition, the USPTO is authorized by statute to provide guidance, conduct programs and studies, and interact with IP offices worldwide—and with international intergovernmental organizations—on matters involving IP.

The OPIA fulfills this mandate by leading negotiations on behalf of the United States at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); advising the Administration on the negotiation and implementation of the IP provisions of international trade agreements; advising the Secretary of Commerce and the Administration on a full range of IP policy matters, including in the areas of patent, copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets; conducting empirical research on IP; and providing educational programs on the protection, use, and enforcement of IP.