The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) has officially joined the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), marking a significant step forward in modernizing the patent examination process and reducing examination pendency.
Based on the PPH pilot program, an applicant who receives a positive ruling on the patent claims from either the SAIP or the IPOS may request accelerated prosecution of the corresponding claims in the other office. Furthermore, it permits each office to re-use the examination work previously done by the other office.
As of January 2024, the SAIP has signed PPH agreements with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), and the European Patent Office (EPO).
Design law amendments
The Royal Decree No. (M/45) dated 10/03/1445 AH (25 September 2023). Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers has approved changes to the Patents, Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs law.
The amended Patent and Industrial Design Law came into effect on October 3, 2023.
Key amendments have had a significant impact on the scope of Intellectual Property protection, including:
- Changes to allow protection under an international design application and to implement provisions of the Hague Agreement;
- Extending Design Protection to 15 years.
- Modifying fees, requiring annual payments at the beginning of each year, except for international industrial models filed under The Hague Agreement, where fees will be paid every five years.
- Adding the applicability of The Hague Agreement to international applications registering industrial designs.
Saudi Arabia has been selected to host the Diplomatic Conference on November 11 to November 22, 2024 related to the Design Law Treaty, which aims to unify the registration procedures for industrial designs.
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