Background
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was established in 1981. Its member states
are: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar,
and Oman. Creation of the GCC Patent Office, as a regional office, was approved
by the Supreme Council of the GCC states at its summit meeting held in Abu
Dhabi, on September 21, 1992. Its headquarters are at Riyadh, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia. The underlying policy behind the GCC Patent Office is to coordinate
efforts in the area of intellectual property, and in particular patent protection.
Such efforts would ultimately enhance technological advancement in support
of the joint economic weight of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states,
which produce about half of OPEC oil production, and about one-six of the
present overall world production.
Choice
of Office
Applications shall be filed directly with the GCC Patent Office. Applicants
domiciled outside the territory of the member states must be represented
by an intellectual property attorney or agent. If an applicant elected to
file a GCC patent application with the GCC Patent Office, he or his agent
must as expressly provided for by the Implementing Regulations, sign an
undertaking in the prescribed form, to the effect that he undertakes to
relinquish a patent already granted by any GCC member state within a period
not exceeding 90 days from the date of grant, if and when a patent certificate
is granted by the GCC Patent Office. In the event, a patent is not yet granted
by a member state, however an application has been filed with any patent
office of any member state, the applicant or his agent is required to sign
an undertaking in the prescribed form to withdraw any earlier filed application
with any patent office of any member state. In the event, no application
has been filed with any patent office of any member state, the applicant
or his agent is required to sign an undertaking in the prescribed form not
to file a patent application with any patent office of any member state.
Patent Registration at GCC Patent Office.
A grant of a patent by the GCC Patent Office secures legal protection with
all the GCC member states without the need to pursue any further processing
action in any member state, except infringement matters which shall be governed
by the domestic laws of each member state.
Formal filing requirements are as follows:
A request for grant of a patent must be made on ( Form 1 ), signed
by the applicant or his agent containing among other things the complete
address, the domicile and nationality of the applicant.( a translation
into Arabic language is required )
A power of attorney duly executed and legalized by a Consulate of
any GCC member state.
If the applicant is not the inventor, a deed of assignment duly executed
and legalized by a Consulate of any GCC member state must be filed.
A copy of the certificate of incorporation or an extract from the
commercial register duly stamped and legalized by a Consulate of any
GCC member state.
A priority document duly certified and legalized by a Consulate of
any GCC member state, if priority is to be claimed.
Three copies of the specification, claims, in English and Arabic
provided that recording of description, claims, and drawings should
start on a separate page. Again, prior to recording the description
and the abstract, title of the invention as appearing in the application
must be written on the middle of the top part of the page.
Preparation should follow the following sequence.
Title of the invention.
Field of the invention.
Prior art or background of the invention.
Disclosure of the invention.
Brief description of the drawings.
Full description of the invention detailing the method to execute
the invention, its industrial application and if appropriate with
examples, statistics etc,
Drawings if any
Abstract of the invention
Note: The description shall specify the technical
field to which the invention relates. The description must indicate the
background art which, as far as known to the applicant, can be regarded
as useful for the understanding, searching and examination of the invention.
It is preferable to cite the documents reflecting such an art. Again, the
description must disclose the invention in such terms that it can be understood
together with its advantageous effects, if any, with reference to the background
art. A brief description of the figures in the drawings, if any; is required
along with at least one mode contemplated by the applicant for carrying
out the invention and this shall be done in terms of examples, where appropriate,
and with reference to the drawings, if any. An explicit indication is required
when it is not obvious from the description or nature of the invention,
the way in which the invention is industriously applicable and the way in
which it can be made and used, or if it can only be used, the way in which
it can be used.
Note: The number of the claims shall be adequate and reasonable
taking into account the nature of the invention and if there are several
claims, they shall be numbered consecutively. The claims shall define the
invention in terms of the technical features of the invention. Where appropriate,
the claims shall contain a statement including those technical features
or characteristics of the invention which are part of the prior art, however,
necessary for the definition of the invention. Claims should also include
an indication of the new technical characteristics protection of which is
required, preceded by words such as "characterized in that", "
characterized by", or any other words to the same effect.
Note: The abstract shall be well drafted that it can professionally
serve as a scrutinizing means for purposes of searching in the particular
art. The abstract shall consist of a summary of disclosure as embodied in
the description, the claims, and any drawings, indicating the technical
field to which the inventor relates and drafted in a manner which permits
the clear understanding of the technical problems and the core of the solution
to that problem through the invention and the principal use or uses of the
invention, and where appropriate the chemical formula which, among all formulae
embraced in the application, best characterizes the invention. The abstract
shall be concise as the disclosure permits. It should not be less than 50
words and not more than 200 words. The abstract shall contain a statement
on the alleged merits or value of the invention or on its speculative application.
Each major technical feature mentioned in the abstract and illustrated by
a drawing in the application shall be followed by a reference sign, placed
between parentheses.
The abstract shall be accompanied by the most illustrative of any
drawings provided by the applicant.
Irregularities.
Non-compliance with formal filing requirements must be completed within
three months from the date of notification by the Patent Office.
Substantive Examination.
An evaluation will be made to estimate whether substantive examination is
required. In the event it is required, the applicant will be notified as
such, provided the applicant shall pay the prescribed fee within three months
from the date of notification. Substantive examination shall be carried
out by the office, or referred to one of the approved examination authorities.
Registration and publication
In the event the substantial examination shows that the applicant has satisfied
the terms and conditions as contained in the patent regulation and its bylaws,
the patent office shall make a decision to grant the patent. The letters
patent after being recorded into the Patent Register shall be forwarded
to the owner of the invention after three months from the date of publication.
Duration and annual maintenance
The term of a patent shall be twenty years counted from the date of filing
the patent application. Maintenance fees shall be paid on the eve of the
anniversary of filing application to GCC Patent Office.
Assignment and other rights.
Documents required are as follows: (a) Power of attorney duly executed and notarized by any
GCC member state. (b) Deed of assignment duly executed and legalized by any
GCC member state.
License agreements (a) Documents required are as follows: (b) Power of attorney duly executed and notarized by any
GCC member state. (c) A duly executed and authenticated contract of license
agreement.
Compulsory license
A compulsory license may be granted subject to satisfaction of the terms
and conditions called for under article 19 of the Patent Regulation.
