Patent Regulation of the GCC: The patented inventions under this system are protected in the all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, namely: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The GCC Patent Office is in Saudi Arabia.

 

Patent Protection Period:      20 Years

From Filing to Grant:                  3 years average

Priority:                               Yes, 12 months

Novelty:                               Absolute

PCT:                                     N/A

 

Annuity Payments: Annuities are to be paid at the beginning of each Gregorian year (from 1^st January to 30^th March, regardless of the filing date) subsequent to the year in which the application was filed. Late annuity is possible within the next 3 months upon payment of lateness fees.

 

Filing Language: Specifications, claims, abstract, drawings and related documents should be translated into Arabic if they are in English, and into English and Arabic if they are in a third language

 

Procedure:  Once the patent application is filed, it is queued to be examined by GCC Patent Office with respect to compliance with formalities. If accepted, the application number and date are secured. Then an estimation is made on expenses to be incurred by the substantive examination on the basis of an evaluation study. Upon settlement, the application is forwarded to substantive examination. The examiner may request amendments to the application. When the application meets all requirements stipulated in the Law and the terms of granting the patent, and upon settlement of the granting and publication fees, the decision of acceptance is published in the Official Gazette and the letters patent is then issued.

 

Requirements

 

Filing Requirements for Patent Application:

1- Power of Attorney, duly notarized and legalized up to the Consulate of any GCC country.

2- Certified copy of the certificate of incorporation or an Extract from the Commercial register of the applicant company duly legalized by the Consulate of any GCC country.

3- Deed of Assignment executed by the inventor(s), duly notarized and legalized up to Consulate of any GCC country.

4- Certified copy of Priority documents, if any.

5- Two copies of the specification, claims and drawings (if any) in English and Arabic, prepared strictly in the following order:

 

 

* Documents in items (1, 2, 3 and 4) above can be submitted upon filing the patent application, while Documents in item (5) should be submitted to the patent office with the application