COOPERATION COUNCIL FOR THE

ARAB STATES OF THE GULF

SECRETARIAT     GENERAL

 

Patent Regulation

of the Cooperation Council

for the Arab States of the Gulf

 and its Implementing Bylaws  

 

2006

 

Contents

Patent Regulation of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

 - The Superme Council Decision ...............................................7

 -  Patent Regulation of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab

    States of the Gulf .....................................................................9

The Implementing Bylaws of the GCC Patent Regulation...29        

- The Ministerial council Desision ............................................31

 - The Implementing Bylaws of the GCC patent Regulation......32

Patent Regulation of

the Cooperation Council for the Arab  States of the Gulf

The Superme Council Decision

 in its 20th Session

27 – 29 November 1999, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The Supreme Council, having

    Reviewed recommendations by the Ministerial Council on amending the Patent Regulation for the Cooperation Council, and based on stipulations of Article 32 of the GCC Patent Regulation approved by the Supreme Council in its 13th session held in Abu Dhabi 21-23 December 1992, and

   Having reviewed recommendations by the Committee on Industrial Cooperation in its 18th meeting on 8th September 1999 on amendment of this Regulation and recommendations by the Committee on Scientific and Technical Cooperation in its 9th meeting 14 – 15 September 1999, as well as recommendations by the Committee on Financial and Economic Cooperation in its 51st meeting 15-16 October 1999 on the proposed amendment to the GCC Patent Regulation, decides.

     Approval of the amendment of the GCC Patent Regulation as follows:

Patent Regulation

of the Cooperation Council

for the Arab States

of the Gulf

     In fulfillment of the objectives of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf stipulated in Article 4 of the Charter, and

     In support of the joint scientific and technical cooperation between Member States cited in chapter 4 of the Unified Economic Agreement, particularly the resolve to acquire an indigenous base founded on encouraging and supporting research, applied sciences, and technology, and

   In an endeavor to achieve the objectives of the transfer and adoptation of transferred technology and to encourage and develop local technologies to meet the needs of the region and the objectives of progress and development.

  The Supreme Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf in its 20th session held in November 1999, having reviewed the GCC Patent Regulation approved by the Council in the 13th session held in December 1992, approves the amendment of the Regulation as follows:

Article 1

      In the implementation of the provisions of the Regulation, expressions shall have the meanings assigned to them below except where the context otherwise requires:

1/1 Cooperation Council: The Cooperation Council for

        the Arab States of the Gulf which comprises (the State

        of the United Arab Emirates, the State of Bahrain,

        the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman,

       the State of Qatar, and the State of Kuwait).

1/2 The Ministerial Council: The Ministerial Council of 

     the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the 

       Gulf.

1/3   The Committee: The Grievances Committee appointed

         by the Ministerial Council to carry out its jurisdictions

      stipulated in this Regulation and its Bylaws.

1/4 Board of Directors: The Board of Directors of the

       Patent Office  of the Cooperation Council for the Arab

             States of the Gulf stipulated in the Patent Office Statute.

1/5 The Office: The Patent Office of the Cooperation

        Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, which consists

       of the Board of Directors and the Office staff.

1/6   The Regulation: Patent Regulation of the Cooperation

       Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

1/7   The Patent: The document granted by the Patent Office

           to the owner of the invention so that his invention shall

                enjoy legal protection within all the Cooperation Council

      States according to the provisions of this Regulation

       and its Bylaws.

Article 2

2/1 An invention shall be patentable according to the

      provisions of this Regulation and its Bylaws if it is

         new, involves an inventive step, industrially applicable  

       and is not contrary to the laws of Islamic Shariya, or

       public order or  to morality observed in the Cooperation

     Council States, whether that was pertaining to new

    products, industrial processes, or to manufacturing

      methods.

2/2  An Invention is new if it is not anticipated by prior art. Prior art being constituted by everything disclosed to the public anywhere by means of written or  oral disclosure, by use, or by any other way by which the invention is realized before the relevant filing date of the patent application or priority date validly claimed in respect thereof.  For the purposes of this paragraph, disclosure of the invention to the public shall not be considered if it took place within one year, either before the application filing date, or before its priority date and it occurred due to abusive actions of others against the applicant or his predecessor or as a result thereof. The disclosure of the invention to the public shall no be taken into consideration if it took place in an officially recognized exhibition within the six months preceding the filing of the application, such being the case, the Implementing Bylaws shall determine the protection provisions for the subject invention.

2/3 An invention is deemed to involve an inventive step if, having regard to the relevant prior art , it would not have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art.

2/4 An invention shall be considered industrially

     applicable if it can be produced or used in any type of

       industry, agriculture, fishing, or services. Industry in this connection should be interpretd in the  broadest sense so as to include handicraft.

2/5   In the event of  filing of applications pertaining to inventions having connection with  the security of any of the Cooperation Council States, procedures stipulated in the Implementing Bylaws shall apply.

2/6  Should there be more than one application for a particular invention, the patent shall be granted to the owner of the first application that has the earliest priority date.

2/7/1 If the invention is a result of joint efforts of several individuals, the ownership of the patent shall belong to them equally, unless otherwise multilaterally agreed upon. A person will not be considered an inventor if his activities were limited to executing the ideas.

2/7/2 The right to a patent shall be assigned to the employer if the invention was the result of execution of a contract or an obligation providing for carrying out inventive activities. The right shall also be assigned to the employer if he proves that the inventor would not have achieved such an invention had he not used the facilities, means, or information made available through his employment.

This may not prejudice the employee's right to receive special remuneration to be determined by a competent authority in the country where the invention is made and in the light of  the circumstances of the contract or the obligation, and the economic significance of the invention.  Any agreement depriving an employee from such rights shall be void.  The above mentioned provisions shall also be applicable to employees of government agencies.  A patent application filed by an employee inventor within the two years after the termination of his services shall be considered as having been filed during his employment.

Article 3

3/1   For the purposes of this Regulation, the following shall not be regarded as inventions:

3/1/1 Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods, and computer programs.

3/1/2 Schemes, rules, and methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts, or playing games.

3/1/3 Plant varieties and species of animals, and biological processes  for the production of plants or animals with the exception of microbiological processes and the products thereof.

3/1/4 Methods of surgical or therapeutic treatment of the human or animal body and methods of diagnosis applied to the human or animal body with the exception of products used in any of these methods.

3/2    This Regulation shall not protect varieties of plants or species of animals.

Article 4

The Ministerial Council may exclude from patentability some inventions whenever necessary to safeguard public