Thanks to Executive Decree No. 20-254 of September 15, 2020, establishing the “Startup” and “Innovative Project” labels, holders of labels recognized by the National Labeling Committee benefit from the coverage or exemption of fees at the National Algerian Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) through an agreement with Algeria Venture. This applies to all titles: invention patents (Ordinance No. 03-07 of July 19, 2003), trademarks (Ordinance No. 03-06), and industrial designs (Ordinance No. 03-08). The public policy objective is clear: remove the financial barrier that prevented technology owners from legally protecting their creations from the start.

From an operational perspective, this measure changes entrepreneurial risk management. A startup can now protect its trade name (trademark), product appearance (industrial design), and technology (patent) even before commercialization, without bearing the usually prohibitive initial cost. This prevents three common situations: losing a product name after launch, seeing a competitor copy the industrial design, or disclosing an innovation before filing and losing the novelty requirement required by patent law. Protection thus becomes an integrated step in the development timeline.

Strategically, these exemptions transform intellectual property into a true economic asset. A startup that accumulates a registered trademark, patent, and industrial design owns an enforceable rights portfolio enabling licensing, franchising, financial valorization, or secure industrialization. Intellectual property ceases to be a legal formality and becomes a market architecture: it defines who can produce, under which name, and with which technology. For a young innovative company, the strategy is therefore not only to create a high-performing product but also to legally lock in its competitive advantage from the start a necessary condition to attract investors, industrial partners, and international markets.