SAUDI ARABIA – AMENDMENT OF LAW RELATING TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS.
Saudi Council of Ministers has recently approved amendments to the Patents, Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs law. These changes have been enacted through Royal Decree No. (M/45) dated 10/03/1445 AH (25 September 2023), and they carry significant implications for the country’s intellectual property rights and protections.
The fundamental changes include:
- Adding the definition of the Hague Agreement and Organization to Article (2) of the system as below:
- The Hague Agreement: Refers to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs of 1999.
- Organization: Refers to The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
- Amending Article (Eighteen) of the patent system to stipulate that Annual fees shall be due for the protection application or the protection document that shall be paid at the beginning of each year starting from the year following the application filing date; however, an exception applies to international industrial models filed under the Hague Agreement, for which fees will be collected every five years from the date of filing the international application.
- Amending paragraph (d) of Article (nineteen) of the patent law to specify that the protection period for an industrial model certificate is now fifteen years from the date of application.
- A new article, Article 60 bis, has been added to the patent law. It highlights that international applications for the registration of industrial designs will be treated according to the provisions of the Hague Agreement and its Regulations. Furthermore, industrial designs registered by the Hague Convention will enjoy the same rights as industrial models registered under the Saudi patent system.
The law’s implementing Regulations will be revised shortly to reflect the above amendments.
These changes represent a significant step in aligning Saudi Arabia’s intellectual property framework with international standards and ensuring robust protection for innovation and creativity within the country.
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