With reference to Circular No. 2/2024 previously issued by the Intellectual Property Rights Protection Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Qatar (the "Patent Office"), this circular allowed applicants to postpone the payment of the annual fee after the third year, provided that the patent application was still pending. The Patent Office has now re-accepted annuity payments for all years, including pending applications that have not been granted, starting from September 15, 2024. Thus, applicants are required to make sure that all accrued annual fees are paid immediately, regardless of whether a decision has been made on the application or not. In addition, please note that the Ministry has confirmed that no refunds will be made for incorrect or duplicate payments.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Bahrain on the Patent Examination Highway Project, the China-Bahrain (Lin) Patent Examination Highway (PPH) Pilot Project has been officially launched on 1 May 2024 for a period of five years until 30 April 2029. After the launch of the PPH Pilot Project, applicants may file PPH requests with the CNIPA in accordance with the "Procedure for Filing PPH Requests with the China National Intellectual Property Office (CNIPA) under the PPH Pilot Project"; and with the MOIC in accordance with the "Procedure for Filing PPH Requests with the Patent Office of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) of Bahrain's Foreign Trade and Intellectual Property Department under the PPH Pilot Project". PPH requests are filed with the MOIC in accordance with the "Procedures for Filing PPH Requests with the Patent Office of the Foreign Trade and Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Bahrain (MOIC) under the Patent Examination Highway Pilot Project. The PPH is a fast-track patent examination lane between different countries or regions, which accelerates the patent examination process through the sharing of work between patent examining organizations.

The UAE Cabinet of Ministers recently issued Cabinet Resolution No. (112) of 2023, which focuses on the services provided by the Ministry of Economy, specifically patents, industrial designs, and utility models. The main changes are as follows: This resolution reinstates official fees for all zero-rated services affected by Cabinet Resolution No. (20) of 2020. The revised fee structure will impact various services, including annuities, publications, assignments, amendments, restorations, and more. New services have been introduced, such as express examination, payment based on the number of claims, increase in the number of claims, and re-examination with minimal errors. A revised fee schedule, featuring decreased charges, has been implemented for academic entities. The Cabinet issued this resolution on November 13, 2023, and it will take effect on January 13, 2024, within 60 days of its publication in the official gazette.

The Council of Ministers has approved amendments to the patent and design protection system. These amendments include the introduction of an annual financial fee for protection applications, which must be paid at the beginning of each year. If the fee is not paid within three months of the due date, the application or protection document will be invalidated. However, applicants who have paid the fee for three years without being granted protection can postpone payment until a decision is made. Moreover, the period of protection for industrial design certificates is fifteen years from the date of application. Additionally, international applications for design registration will be subject to the provisions of the Hague Agreement. Designs registered under the Hague Agreement and designated for protection in the Kingdom will have the same rights as those registered under this system.

The Bahraini Minister of Industry and Trade, Abdullah Fakhro, issued a decision amending the fees due for registering patents and utility models. According to Resolution No. 67 of 2023, some fees for registering patents and utility models for individuals were reduced, as the fees for submitting and formally examining the application were reduced from 270 dinars previously, to 40 dinars according to the new decision. Substantive examination fees through the National Patent Office have also been reduced, from 280 dinars previously to 250 dinars currently. The fees for granting and publishing a patent were also reduced from 80 dinars to 50 dinars. In its session held on September 4, the Council of Ministers approved a memorandum from the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs on a draft decision amending the attached table regarding determining the fees due for registering patents and utility models, which aims to support and encourage inventors.

The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) announced that it has been appointed as an International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT/ISA/IPEA), becoming the second international search and examination authority to support the Arabic language. Accordingly, applicants filing PCT applications in the Arabic language can designate SAIP as the International Search Authority (ISA). This accreditation was granted by all 193 members of the WIPO, allowing international patent applicants in member countries to select the SAIP as one of the authorized international search authorities by the WIPO to issue a search report for international patent applications.

Resumes accepting new application starting from January 2023 on behalf of Bahrain and Kuwait.

Resumes accepting new application starting from January 2023 on behalf of Bahrain and Kuwait.

Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) declared that apostilled documents issued by competent authorities will be accepted.

Only notarization of documents is required with patent and design applications.

Documents apostilled or legalized up to Bahraini Embassy will be accepted.

Official fees will be reduced for some services for the patent and trademarks during the first quarter of 2023.

Official Fees of Substantive Examination will increase from EGP 17,000 to EGP 25,000 on 2nd of February 2023.

TMO resumes their work on 1st of March 2023 by accepting local application first.

Table of amended fees according to the cabinet decision No. 20 for year 2020- TM Administration Download

Table of amended fees according to the cabinet decision No. 20 for year 2020- TM Administration Download