The Saudi Patents

Saudi Patents are governed by the Patents, Layout Designs and Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties and Industrial Models Law, issued under Royal Decree No. M/27 dated July 17, 2004.  It came into force on September 6, 2004, one month after its publication in the Saudi Official Gazette.

The Saudi Patent Law encompasses four (4) categories of intellectual property, namely:

• Patents
• Layout Design of Circuits
• Plant Variation in the fields of agriculture, and
• Industrial Designs

The Saudi Patent Office is embodied within the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).

Under the Saudi Patent Law, an  invention includes any new article, method of manufacture, or improvement in either of them. Product patents are also protected. Absolute universal novelty is stipulated by the patent law. An invention is new only if it is not anticipated by the prior art, which covers anything disclosed to the public anywhere and at any time, by means of a written or oral disclosure, by use, or in any other way before the relevant filing date or priority date.

Applications filed before the KACST are subject to examination as to form and substance.  If the Applicant has met all the documentary requirements, the Application is allotted with a Filing Number and a Filing Date.

Please note that a Saudi Patent Application shall relate to a single invention or to a group of integrated parts that form a single invention concept. Before the issuance of a decision for Patent Grant, the Applicant has the opportunity to divide the Application into more than one, provided that none of them shall deviate from what was disclosed in the original Application.

A Saudi Patent shall be protected for twenty (20)  years from the date of filing the Application.  It is then subject to annuity that becomes due at the beginning of each  year subsequent to the year in which the Application was filed and payable within a period of 3 months (January 1, to March 30).  Late payment of annuities is allowed within 3 months thereafter for a penalty of double the official fees.

Although Saudi Arabia has approved to join the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) as per the Royal Decree issued on December 14, 2009, the access into the PCT has not yet been completed and accordingly, entering the PCT national phase is still not possible.

Suitable Power of Attorney and Assignment forms as well as details of documents required for filing will be supplied and our applicable fees, will be provided, upon demand.