KUWAIT Law and Practice Contributed by: Sam Habbas, Luis Cunha, Hisham Al-Quraan and Mustafa Sayed, ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners
In a horizontal relationship, parties are restricted from: • setting the prices of products, either directly or indirectly, whether by increasing, decreas - ing, fixing the price or imposing any com - mercial restrictive requirements relevant to the sale or distribution of commodities or the provision of service or any other form con - trary to ordinary market forces; • dividing the product markets according to areas, volume of sales or purchases or prod - ucts being sold in any other manner; • fixing the quantity of production, distribu - tion or sale for commodities or determining a specific method or means for the provision of a service; • restricting the technical development or investment in connection to the production, distribution or sale of a commodity or provi - sion of a service; and • colluding in submitting bids or offers for the sale, purchase or provision of any commodity. Significantly, the Competition Law provides that the CPA is to provide further guidance on what is permitted/restricted in relation to persons in vertical relationships; such guidance remains outstanding. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position See 6.1 Merger Control Notification and 6.3 Cartels .
”patents”, Article 3 provides what should not be considered as a patent, including: • discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods and computer programs; • schemes, rules and methods of doing busi - ness, practising pure mental activities, and playing a game; • plants and animals and the biological pro - cesses used to produce plants or animals, with the exception of microbiology processes and the products of these processes; and • methods for treating the human or animal body surgically or therapeutically, and meth - ods of diagnosing disease applied to the human or animal body, with the exception of products that are used in any of these meth - ods. The Patent Law does not protect plant varieties and animal species. According to Article 15, patents are valid for a period of four years, but can be renewed for cumulative periods of up to 20 years. At present, the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) processes applications for industrial designs, while other patent applications are directed to the GCC Patent Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. When approved, a registration in the GCC Patent Office in Riyadh may be enforced in Kuwait. An owner or rights holder of a patent, a drawing, a design or a utility model may file a complaint under the Patent Law to protect their rights. During a civil or criminal lawsuit, a rights or title holder may ask the court to issue an order to take precautionary measures, which may include the seizure of the contravening goods and the equipment and machines used for commit -
7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
Law No 71 of 2013 (the “Patent Law”) addresses patent protection issues in Kuwait. Although the Patent Law does not expressly define the word
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