UAE Ministry of Economy signs MOU with KIPO

A news report from Gulf News here that the UAE Ministry of Economy has signed a(nother) Memorandum of Understanding with the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

From the report it appears that the KIPO will start assisting in the examination of patent applications in the UAE.

This part of the Empty Quarter welcomes the news as speedy processing of patent applications is, generally, a good thing. However, applicants and their agents will need to be ready to pay the fees, noted here.

Legalisation and patent examanation in Bahrain

News from good friends SMAS:

"After its accession to the Hague Agreement, legalization of documents by Apostille is now acceptable to the Bahrain Patent Office, for all applicants/inventors of any country member to the said Agreement, thus abolishing the requirements of legalization of foreign documents up to the Bahrain Consulate.

The Bahraini Patent Office has recently started formal examination for National Phase applications filed under the PCT scheme in Bahrain, and in this regard, some further supporting documents will be required by the Patent Office. However, the said anticipated documents shall be specified timely for each case.

A verified Arabic translation for the patent specification and the priority documents, stamped by a Local Certified Translation Office, will be required."

This part of the Empty Quarter welcomes the removal of legalisation steps and examination of patent applications so lots of good news.

UAE Trade Mark Office drafts in additional support

News that the Trade Mark Office in the UAE has drafted in extra support to help tackle the backlog of applications.

Examiners, both trained and novice, from Jordan are providing support. The existing examiners are focused on applications filed in 2014 and the temporary examiners are dealing with those from 2013.

There is also a new examiner in the opposition section dealing with the significant back log there.

This part of the Empty Quarter welcomes the news. Accurate and timely processing of applications and oppositions is vital to the proper functioning of a Trade Mark Office for the benefit of users and consumers alike.

Saudi Arabian Trade Mark Office further publication fee fun

Further to the earlier post here about the increases at the Saudi Trade Mark Office of publication fees, news from good friends Kadasa & Partners of further changes. Readers will recall that the increases follow a number of changes to the practice at the Trade Mark Office over recent months (reported here, here and here).

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is allowing a discount on the new publication fees of 50% for applications filed between 14 January and 28 February 2014. For applications filed from 1 March 2014 onwards the full SAR3,000 (US$810) will be charged.

The deadline for paying the publication fees has changed. For all applications accepted before or on 10 February 2014 the deadline to pay the publication fees is 180 days. For all applications accepted on or after 11 February 2014 the deadline to pay the publication fees is 30 days. The current Implementing Regulations, as amended, state 30 days to pay the publication fees. However, until 11 February 2014 the notices of acceptance had stated 180 days (the old time period). 

The part of the Empty Quarter prefers certainty. The changes at the Trade Mark Office in Saudi Arabia result in a lack of certainty. Increases in official fees are very likely to reduce the number of trade mark applications filed which does not encourage a brand rich environment.