Jordan - Standards and Metrology Organisation Law amended

News from good friends Saba & Co in their September 2015 bulletin (here) of amendments to the Standards and Metrology Organisation Law 

Iran - enforcement

There is a summary of enforcement options in Iran from good friends Saba & Co in their September 2015 bulletin here.

Global Innovation Index 2015

In a notice (here) on 17 September 2015 WIPO released the Global Innovation Index 2015. The WIPO website page for the GII is here while the main GII page is here. The WIPO page states:

The Global Innovation Index (GII) ranks the innovation performance of 141 countries and economies around the world, based on 79 indicators. The GII is co-published by WIPO, Cornell University and INSEAD.

The GII 2015 explores the impact of innovation-oriented policies on economic growth and development. High-income and developing countries alike are seeking innovation-driven growth through different strategies. Some countries are successfully improving their innovation capacity, while others still struggle.

The main GII website allows the full report to be downloaded and read at your leisure (from here). The infographics page (here) is brightly coloured and provides lots of easily read information - not least of which are honourable mentions for Saudi Arabia (coming in third overall as a leader in innovation in the Northern Africa and Western Asia region) and the United Arab Emirates (as the leader in cluster developments).

The rankings page (here) allows the reader to filter by region and sort by each part of the report (covering everything from Institutions to School Life Expectancy).

There is comment here from Gulf News.

UAE - Trade Mark Office - trial of on line filing and renewals

News reaches this part of the Empty Quarter of an announcement yesterday by the Trade Mark Office of the trial of on line trade mark filing and trade mark renewal. The service is accessed through the Ministry of Economy website here or here.

There is a trial period from 13 September 2015 to 19 September 2015. There is no news of when the service might go live or when other services may be added. 

This part of the Empty Quarter is delighted by this announcement and holds hope in his heart that it heralds a new era of the opening up of the Trade Mark Office so that information is readily accessible by all as it is in so many jurisdictions around the world.

Lebanon - WTH Mulford to close

Sad news has reached this part of the Empty Quarter that Mr David Meshaka passed away on 23 August 2015. Our condolences go to his family and colleagues.  Following this sad news we have heard that the firm, WTH Mulford, will close in its current form and then arise phoenix like again under the same name. While the news is currently not clear, it appears that existing prosecution matters will be completed and the certificates sent out. However, the business is not accepting any new instructions.  All those with matters currently with WTH Mulford should contact them for further news and advice.

UAE - Dubai - "Dubai raids net record Dh195m in fake goods" reports The National

The front page of The National today reports "Dubai raids net record Dh195m in fake goods".

There is then an editorial piece "Fake goods are too prevalent".

Saudi Arabia - possible increase to official fees for publication of trade mark renewals and assignments

News from NJQ:

"Expected Increase in the Official Publication Fees

It is expected that the official fees for the publication of renewals and recordal of assignments will be increased from 15 October 2015.

The old fees of said publication of assignments were SAR500 and for renewals SAR300; the new fees will become SAR3000 for both.

We recommend applying for any renewals and assignments as soon as possible to avoid the new increased fees.

If you have any questions, please contact us at saudi-arabia@qumsieh.com."

Further news from good friends Kadasa & Partners that there has been no official announcement but the rumours are that an increase will be announced when renewals become available through the on-line system, but that the amounts are still under discussion.

And news in the September bulletin from good friends Saba & Co here. 

WIPO Patentscope database now available in Arabic

News (here) from WIPO that the Patentscope database (here) is available to search in Arabic (here).

The WIPO website says that "The PATENTSCOPE database provides access to international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in full text format on the day of publication, as well as to patent documents of participating national and regional patent offices. The information may be searched by entering keywords, names of applicants, international patent classification and many other search criteria in multiple languages."


The news item says" The PATENTSCOPE search system is now available in Arabic in addition to the nine existing languages. It is now possible to do the following exclusively in Arabic:
Carry out searches
Browse search results
Log into your user account
Browse help and supporting pages

More advanced search features (e.g. stemming) will gradually become available in Arabic."

Wow, says this part of the Empty Quarter, that is a lot of really useful information in Arabic for inventors in the region.

Tunisia - Decree No. 2015-303 on trade marks

News hot of the press from WIPO today that Decree No 2015-303 has been added to the WIPO Lex database (in Arabic and French). The notice reads:

The Decree No. 2015-303 of June 1, 2015, establishing the Procedures for the Registration of and Opposition to the Registration of Trademarks and Service Marks, as well as the Procedures concerning Recording in the National Register of Marks came into force on June 9, 2015, and repealed Decree No. 2001-1603 of July 11, 2001.

The Decree introduces the following modifications:

(i) introduction of electronic filing of applications for the registration of trademarks;
(ii) setting out of provisions governing the trademark registration through the Madrid Protocol;
(iii) extension during the opposition period of the time for the applicant to submit observations from 45 days to 2 months from the date of notification of the opposition;
(iv) fixation of a maximum period of 8 months from the date of submission of observations for the applicant and the opponent to attempt conciliation in the trademark opposition;
(v) extension to 2 months from 1 month of the period during which the opponent may furnish proof of the use of the trademarks upon which opposition has been based; and
(vi) definition of a period of 2 months for the applicant to submit the missing documents to request recording of a change of names, addresses, ownership, assignment, etc., in the National Register of Marks.

UPDATE

Here is an update from good friends Spoor & Fisher

Tunisia – Procedural changes dealing with trade mark applications and oppositions
Tunisia, a country that recently joined the Madrid Protocol, has made certain procedural changes to its trade mark law. These changes affect not only trade mark applications, but also trade mark oppositions, where an EU-style conciliation process exists. These changes are contained in a new decree, Decree No. 2015-303, which has replaced Decree No. 2001-1603.
The following changes have been brought about:

• There is provision for the electronic filing of trade mark applications, although we understand that such filings are not yet possible.
• There are provisions dealing with trade mark registration through the Madrid Protocol.
• The term within which the trade mark applicant can file observations to a trade mark opposition has been increased from 45 days to two months from the date of notification of the opposition.
• There is now an eight-month term from the date of submission of the observations within which the parties can seek conciliation of the opposition.
• The period within which an opponent may file proof of use of the trade mark on which the opposition is based is increased from one month to two months.
• There is now a two-month term for the filing of any documentation that may be required in order to support transactions such as a change of name, a change of address, or an assignment.

Eid Al Adha holidays 2015

News from good friends Kadasa & Partners that the public sector will be closed in Saudi Arabia from Friday 18 September 2015 to Monday 28 September 2015, returning to work on Tuesday 29 September 2015. These closures will affect the Saudi Trade Mark and Patent offices as well as the GCC Patent Office.

The UAE government has announced the Eid holidays will be 23/24/25 September 2015 for the private sector and 23/24/25/26 September 2015 for the public sector. 

News from good friends Abdelhadi in Egypt that their firm and the government will be closed from Tuesday 22 September to Saturday 26 September 2015 and all deadlines falling with that period will be deferred to next working day, Sunday 27 September 2015.

News from good friends Deris in Turkey that their office will be closed on Wednesday 23, Thursday 24 and Friday 25 September for the holiday. They do not specifically state that the government will be closed on those dates.

Eid Mubarak!