Getting Your Industrial Design Registered In Saudi Arabia

20th May, 2022 - 9:55 am Categories: Design 0 Comments

Saudi Arabia, the second-largest country in the Arab World and the fifth largest country in Asia is one of the most important countries in the Middle East. Being one of the world’s largest oil producers and largest oil exporters, Saudi Arabia is a key country. The country controls the world’s second-largest oil reserve and the sixth-largest gas reserve. (The rankings are subject to change). Saudi Arabia has been ranked high on the Human Development Index categorizing as World Bank High Income Economy. Being a major power with a strong influence in world politics, Saudi Arabia is the only country to be a part of G20’s major economies.

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Saudi is considered as a regional and middle power with the highest economy in the middle east. With a more young population, Saudi is on the forefront of being an industrialized economy coupled with the strong technological interference.

Previously, three governmental bodies had the authority to protect and enforce intellectual property rights: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry for trademarks, the Ministry of Culture and Information for copyright, and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology for patents. All of these powers have now been transferred to the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP). The Commercial Courts preside over infringement-related disputes.

Industrial Design Registration in Saudi Arabia 

Industrial Design Registration in Saudi Arabia : As per the Saudi Law of Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Design, it defines the Industrial Design as a composition of two-dimensional lines or colours or any three-dimensional shape that gives an industrial product or product of traditional craft a special appearance can be registered as an industrial design.

Article 59 stipulates that the industrial design certificate shall be granted if it is novel and has features that distinguish it from known industrial designs. The industrial design shall be deemed novel if it was not disclosed to the public through publication anywhere in a tangible form, by use or by any other way, prior to the date of filing the registration application or the priority application. Disclosure of the industrial design to the public shall have no effect if it occurs during the priority period. The Regulations shall determine the other cases of disclosure which have no effect, as well as the provisions governing temporary protection of industrial designs.

The Saudi Law also provides with the priority claim for Industrial Design and states that the applicant may benefit from the priority given to a previous application filed during the priority period specified for each of t subject matters of protection, from the filing date of the previous application, provided that it is accompanied by a written declaration stating the date and number of the previous application and the place where it was filed by him or his predecessor. He shall also submit a copy of the previous application approved by the authority where the protection application was submitted, within ninety days from the date of filing the application with the Directorate. The priority period for the industrial design shall be six months

Pre-requisite for Industrial Design registration

The criteria or rather requirements for getting a design registration in Saudi Arabia are-

• Novelty
• Visibility
• Distinguishing features
• Not necessitated by functional or technical features
• Design shall not be in violation of Shariah (Islamic) law.

Documents required for filing

To obtain the date of filing, a design application in Saudi Arabia should contain:

• an application for registration including the applicant’s and designer’s details;
• type of product to which the industrial design will be applied;
• the title, description, and classes according to the International Classification of Industrial Designs;
• a representation of the design;
• the country, application number, and filing date of the priority application (if any).
• A certified copy of the Priority Document should be submitted within 3 months from the filing date.
• Original Power of Attorney notarized and legalized up to the Saudi Consulate should be submitted within 3 months from the filing date. At the time of filing a copy is sufficient.
• If the application is filed by a person other than the designer, a legalized Assignment Deed between the applicant and the designer must be submitted simultaneously with filing the application.
• Saudi design applications claiming conventional priority should be filed within six months from the priority date. Restoration of the priority right is not possible.

Examination and Grant

For Examination purpose, only a formality examination is conducted by the patent office and no such substantive examination is conducted. After the examination, the industrial design certificate protection period shall be ten years from the date of filing the application.

Author: Saransh Chaturvedi (Advocate, LLM (IIT Kharagpur) – an associate at Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney,  in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email saransh@iiprd.com.