SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dana Halwani and Leanne Farsi, Derayah LLPC
• The 12th Edition of the Nice Classification was adopted by Saudi Arabia and is now required when new trade mark applications are filed. • The Saudi Cabinet approved the Kingdom’s acces - sion to the Madrid Protocol for international trade mark registration. In Saudi Arabia, it is not permitted for anyone other than the rightful owner to register a trade mark that is similar to an internationally known mark. Registration of a trade mark provides the holder with protection for ten years from the date of registration, renewable for similar periods. Any renewal must be specifically applied for before the end of the year of expiry of the registration, and the procedure for renewal is the same as that for the initial registration of the trade mark. A trade mark is deemed to be owned by the person who effects the registration. Once the registration is effected in the trade marks register, the party who has registered the trade mark shall be considered the owner thereof, to the exclusion of others. A trade mark can be licensed, pledged or transferred by the rightful owner. The trade mark may be deleted or cancelled if it is not used for five consecutive years. Penalties for infringement of a valid trade mark include imprisonment for a period of no more than one year, and a fine of no less than SAR50,000 and no more than SAR1 million. The Commercial Courts preside over infringement-related disputes. 7.3 Industrial Designs An industrial design is defined as “a collection of two- dimensional lines or colours, or a three-dimensional form that gives any industrial product or product of traditional crafts a special appearance, provided that it is not merely for a functional or technical purpose, including textile designs”. The industrial design is pro - tected by a protection document called an “industrial design certificate”. Industrial designs are governed by the Patent, Lay - out Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Models Regulation. A protection certificate shall be granted for an industrial model if it is novel and has features that distinguish it from known indus - trial models. The industrial model shall be deemed
novel if it was not disclosed to the public through pub - lication anywhere in a tangible form, by use or by any other means, prior to the date of filing the registration application or the priority application. Protection is granted to the owner for ten years for an industrial design. The above-mentioned regula - tion gives the owner of an industrial model protec - tion certificate the right to initiate an action before the Commercial Courts against any person who infringes the industrial model by exploiting it for commercial purposes without their consent within the Kingdom through the manufacture, sale or importation of a product that includes or represents a wholly or sub - stantially copied industrial model. Note that the procedure for applying for a protection certificate for an industrial design is similar to the pro - cedure for registering a patent, as described in 7.1 Patents . 7.4 Copyright The Copyright Regulation (Royal Decree No M/41 of 2 Rajab 1424 Hejra corresponding to 30 August 2003) and its Implementing Rules define copyright protec - tion to include architectural designs, speeches and theatrical, musical, photographic and cinematograph - ic works, as well as works for radio and television, maps, video tapes and computer software. The Regu - lation gives the author financial and moral rights to: • print or publish the work; The SAIP has launched a copyright registration ser - vice for computer software, apps and architectural designs. To register, applicants must complete the registration application on the SAIP website and pay the requisite examination fee. Upon successful registration, the copyright holder is issued a registration certificate. In general, the duration of protection afforded to dif - ferent types of copyrighted works is as follows: • make amendments or delete the work; • withdraw the work from circulation; and • assign the work as they wish.
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