SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dana Halwani and Leanne Farsi, Derayah LLPC
“… anything having a distinctive form such as names, words, signatures, letters, figures, draw - ings, logos, titles, hallmarks, seals, pictures, engravings, packs or any other mark or group of marks if used or intended to be used either to distinguish goods, products or services of a facility or other facilities or to indicate the ren - dering of a service or the control of inspection of goods or services.” Applications for the registration of trade marks are made online. The process is as follows. • Authorisation must be obtained to register the trade mark. • A power of attorney must be obtained to reg - ister the trade mark. • A request must be submitted to register the trade mark, which includes the payment of a SAR1,000 consideration fee. • The request is examined. The SAIP may allow the applicant to modify the trade mark if the SAIP finds the trade mark is not fit for regis - tration. • If the trade mark is accepted, the SAR500 publication fee must be paid to proceed. • The trade mark is published for 60 days. • If no objections are made during the publi - cation period, once it lapses, the applicant must pay the final invoice within 30 days of its issuance, and the trade mark certificate will be issued. The trade mark registration and certificate issuance fees are SAR5,000. In November 2023, two significant develop - ments took place in Saudi trade mark law. • 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 accession to the Madrid Protocol for interna - tional 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 per - son who effects the registration. Once the regis - tration 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 trans - ferred 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 Design An industrial design is defined as “a collec - tion 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 protected by a
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