OMAN LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Said Al-Shahry, Thamer Al-Shahry, Jeremy Pooley, Maria Mariam Rabeaa Petrou, Shadha Al Kharusi and Salim Al Harthi, Said Al Shahry & Partners (SASLO )
trar if it does not meet the requirements; the applicant would be notified of the decision and its reasons. • The applicant may oppose the decision refusing the application for registration of the trade mark within 60 days of the date of notification. The applicant can also appeal to the competent court against the decision to refuse the application. The protection period for a trade mark registered in Oman is ten years from the filing date (which may be renewed). 7.3 Industrial Design Industrial design is defined under the IPR Law as “any combination of lines, colours or any three- dimensional form whether connected with lines or colours or not, provided that such combina - tion or form gives a distinctive appearance to an industrial or a handicraft product forming a sign of an industrial or a handicraft product which is visually perceptible with an unaided eye.” For the industrial design to be eligible for registra - tion, it must be: • new; • not disclosed to the public; and • be industrially applicable. The term of protection for an industrial design registered in Oman is five years, which may be renewed for two consecutive periods of the same duration upon the owner’s request and after payment of the prescribed fees. Broadly speaking, the procedure to register an industrial design is as follows. • The procedure is commenced by submitting an application for registration to the Registrar
in the prescribed form, signed by the appli - cant or the applicant’s lawyer. • The application must be accompanied by drawings, photographs and a petition that sufficiently describes the goods incorporating the industrial design and indicates the type of products for which the industrial design is used. • The Registrar will then evaluate the applica - tion and notify the applicant of the decision to accept or reject the application. The applicant must pay the prescribed fees within 90 days of the date of such notification. • The Registrar will publish the industrial design in the Official Gazette. • Upon successful completion of the no objec - tion period, the Registrar will issue the regis - tration certificate for the industrial design. An industrial design expires five years from the filing date and is renewable for two consecutive periods of the same duration upon the owner’s request. 7.4 Copyright The Law for the Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights RD 65/2008 (as amended – the “Copyright Law”) regulates copyright law in Oman. Oman ratified the Berne Convention for Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in July 1999. Protection under the Copyright Law is provid - ed to original literary, technical and scientific works, regardless of their value, nature, method of expression, or the purpose of their author - ship. Computer programs and databases read from a computer or elsewhere are protected by copyright. Mere ideas, procedures, methods of work, mathematical concepts, principles, inven - tions and data are not protected by copyright.
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