Most of Jordan's current intellectual property laws date back to the 1950s - only a few years after Trans-Jordan obtained its full independent status and became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. All of such laws were preceded by either Ottoman or Jordanian laws that were repealed at the time. The laws dealing with intellectual property rights in Jordan are:
(i) Trademarks Law (Law No. 33 of 1952);
(ii) Law of Goods' Markings (Law No. 19 of 1953);
(iii) Patents and Designs Law (Law No. 22 of 1953);
(iv) Registration of Trade Names Law (Law No. 30 of 1953);
(v) Copyright Law (Law No. 22 of 1992);
Currently, some of the aforementioned laws are being revised by the government of Jordan as part of an effort to reform many of the Jordanian laws in order to create a better legal environment under which interested persons and investors can work in the country. Following is a brief description of each of the above laws and the status of amendments, if any, in respect thereof.
(i) Trademarks Law
This law was passed in 1952 and replaced a 1930 legislation that governed the registrations and renewals of trademarks as well as other related aspects. The law provides reasonable protection to trademark owners and adopts the international classification system for goods with its 34 classes. Unfortunately, the law did not adopt the classification for service marks that is recognized worldwide. This creates a problem for many owners of service marks who desire to register their marks in Jordan. At the present time, service mark owners are advised to register their marks under International Class 16, which is being used (and effectively recognized by the Registrar of Trademarks as such) as a default class for service marks.
Currently, an amendment to the Trademarks Law is pending before the Jordanian Parliament. Among the more important amendments is the introduction of the international classification for services (classes 35-42).
(ii) Law of Goods' Markings
This law provides protection to all markings of goods from being forged or imitated by counterfeiters. The law allows the legal seizure and confiscation of counterfeit goods and imposes jail sentences on violators who infringe the rights of the proprietors of such markings. The law prohibits the use of false commercial descriptions or descriptive material on goods for the purpose of defrauding the public into believing that the goods are of a certain origin, manufacture, characteristic, nature or privilege.
(iii) Patents and Designs Law
The Patents and Designs Law provides protection to patents and designs (of shapes, images or patterns) that are registered in Jordan. This law in particular has drawn a lot of criticism to Jordan because of the fact that it grants protection to patents based on the process rather than on the end product. As a result, pharmaceuticals companies in particular have been unable to protect their drugs in Jordan for years. It is estimated that around 80% of drugs manufactured in Jordan are violations of existing patents. A government committee is currently preparing a draft patents law for Jordan, but it is uncertain whether the new law will protect the end products or not.
(iv) Registration of Trade Names Law
This is another law that dates back to the fifties. Although not as important as other intellectual property laws, this law becomes relevant for companies that desire to protect their trade names either because such names are distinct from their trademarks or because they are trading under such name. Unfortunately, the law is outdated and needs to be revised. One ameliorating factor is that fact that Jordan is a signatory to the Paris Convention which provides for the protection of trade names even if they are not registered in the member state where protection is being sought.
(v) Copyright Law
The 1992 Law replaced an Ottoman law that was in force in Jordan since the days when Jordan was a province of the Ottoman Empire. The new Law offers protection to all literary works, speeches, theatrical works, musical works, maps, cinematographic works, computer programs, etc. In certain aspects, the Copyright Law is inconsistent with international conventions and agreements, and it is not strictly enforced, especially when it comes to audio and visual works and software.
Amendments to the Copyright Law which are supposed to add teeth to the law and provide better protections are pending before Parliament and may be passed during the first quarter of 1997.
Jordan has submitted its application to join the WTO and is expected to start negotiating the various WTO agreements soon. The impact of WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is expected to be significant on the Jordanian intellectual property laws currently in force.
This article is prepared for the general information of interested persons. It should not be acted upon in any specific situation without appropriate legal advice. For more information regarding this article or any of the matters discussed herein, please contact Thamer A. Obeidat at Telephone (962 6) 672222, Facsimile (962 6) 699222 or E-mail thamer@go.com.jo
Law & Arbitration Centre, Amman, Jordan.
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