table of contents
Introduction
Saudi ArabiaBelow is information that will help you protect your trademark rights.
We hope that this page will be of assistance to you in protecting your intellectual property overseas. Please help us.
*Average screening period in Saudi Arabia *As of June 2018
Currently, the examination period from application to registration is approximately four months, unless there are reasons for refusal.
Trademark Rights in Saudi Arabia
*Please note that Saudi Arabia uses a lunar calendar.
太陰暦で1ヵ月は29日～30日からなり、1年は12ヵ月（354～355日）からなる。例えば、太陰暦で10年は、西暦でおよそ9年8ヵ月である。
The months and years mentioned below are lunar years.
A. Registrable trademarks
(1) Type of trademark
- Product trademark
- Service mark (service trademark)
- collective trademark
(2) Subject matter of trademark protection
- A trademark in Saudi Arabia is defined as "any name, word, signature, letter, symbol, number, address, seal, drawing, pictorial, sculpture, packaging, photographic element, shape, colour mixture or combination thereof, or any visual sign or combination of such signs, used to distinguish the products or services of one entity from those of other entities, or to indicate any service, or the testing or examination of a product or service."
- Signs relating to sounds or scents may also be considered trademarks.
B. From application to registration
(1) Creation of rights
- Adopt the registration principle.
- The first-to-file system will be adopted.
(2) Term of existence
- 10 years from the filing date.
- Renewal possible every 10 years → Application can be made 6 months prior to the expiration of the validity period
(3) Classification (goods or services)
- The multiple classification system for one application is not adopted.
- Although it is not a party to the Nice Agreement, it does use the Nice Classification.
- However, goods and services such as Class 33 in general, alcoholic beverages in Class 32, pork in Class 29, Christmas tree decorations in Class 28, and concert organization in Class 41 cannot be registered.
(4) Application documents (the procedural language is Arabic)
- ①Application form
- ②Trademark sample (need to submit 10 copies)
- ③ Power of attorney (signature and consular authentication required)
- ④ Priority certificate (only if priority is claimed)
- In case of collective trademark application, the following documents are also required
- ⑤ Two true copies of the rules of the association, union or organization seeking registration
- ⑥ Copies of instructions on how to use the trademark on the product or service: 2 copies
(5) Examination
- A substantive examination will be conducted.
- If the requirements for registration are not met, a notice of reasons for refusal will be issued, specifying a period for response.
- If there is no response to the notice of refusal or if the reasons for refusal are not resolved, the application will be considered refused.
- If the registration requirements are met or if the reasons for refusal are resolved by a written opinion or amendment, the application will be published.
(6) Application announcement
- If the registration requirements are met, the contents of the application will be published.
- Obligation to cooperate with publication: When a trademark application is approved by the Registrar, the Trademark Office will prepare a publication notice for the trademark. The applicant must receive the publication notice within 90 days from the date of the decision approving registration or the Minister of Commerce's decision approving the request for appeal.
*The applicant must publish the above-mentioned notice in the Official Gazette (known as "Um Al Qura") at his own expense and submit a copy of the newspaper in which it appeared to the Trademark Office within six months from the date of receipt of the notice, otherwise the application will be considered abandoned.
(7) Opposition (pre-grant opposition)
- Any interested party may file an opposition within 90 days from the date of publication.
(8) Registration
- If no opposition is filed within the time limit or if the opposition is decided to be without merit, the trademark will be registered.
(9) Arbitration and cancellation request system
- Appeal against decision of refusal
- Invalidation trial
- Correction Trial
- Cancellation trial for non-use (if the trademark has not been used for five years, the competent department and interested parties may request cancellation)
C. Implementation of the GCC Uniform Trademark Law
- The GCC Unified Trademark Law Regulations were published in Saudi Arabia on July 2016, 7, and the GCC Unified Trademark Law came into effect on September 1 of the same year.
- As a result, registration fees have been increased (application and publication fees remain unchanged).
- In addition, a fee of approximately 135 USD (approximately 500 SAR) will be charged for requesting the recording of a change in name and address in the Official Gazette, effective from 2017 January 1, and there will be no retroactive fee for past cases.
- In addition, with the introduction of the GCC Unified Trademark Law, opposition procedures have been shifted from judicial to administrative procedures, which is said to have made the costs cheaper compared to previous judicial procedures.
D. Treaties
The status of membership in the main treaties is as follows.
| treaty of paris | WTO agreement | trademark law treaty | madpro | nice agreement |
| Join | Join | Not a member | Not a member | Not a member * |
*Although it is not a member of the Nice Agreement, it has adopted the Nice Classification.