Through intellectual property agents licensed by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, we provide registration services for all types of intellectual property rights, such as trademarks, industrial designs and copyright-protected works. We also handle the preventive side by drafting and preparing contracts relating to intellectual property rights, and we file and pursue objections relating to their registration, from the initial stages before the Authority through to challenges before the competent court, in accordance with the GCC Trademark Law and its Implementing Regulations, the Copyright Law and its Implementing Regulations, the Law of Patents, Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs and its Implementing Regulations, and other applicable laws in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Registration of a trademark gives protection for ten years, and the owner may renew the protection for similar periods by applying during the last year of the protection period, under Article 20 of the GCC Trademark Law. Renewal is also possible within the six months following the expiry of the registration; if those six months pass without a renewal application, the competent authority strikes the mark off the register.
Yes. Any interested party may file a written opposition with the competent authority within sixty days from the date of publication, under Article 14 of the GCC Trademark Law. The competent authority then decides to accept or refuse the registration, and any interested party may challenge that decision before the competent court within thirty days from being notified of it, under Article 15 of the same Law.
No. Under Article 3 of the Implementing Regulations of the Copyright Law, works are protected without any formality, and registration with the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property is optional under Article 42 of the Copyright Law; registration creates a rebuttable presumption of ownership of the work. The author’s economic rights are protected for the author’s lifetime and for fifty years after death, under Article 22 of the Law.
Under Article 19 of the Law of Patents, Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs, a patent is protected for twenty years from the filing date of the application, and an industrial design certificate for fifteen years from the filing date. An annual fee is payable on the application or the protection document, and failure to pay it on the prescribed dates results in the lapse of the application or the document, under Article 18 of the Law.
A trademark owner who suffers direct damage may bring a claim before the competent court under Article 41 of the GCC Trademark Law, and the Public Prosecution investigates the offenses set out in Article 47 of the Copyright Law and prosecutes them before the competent court under Article 46 of that Law.