Law of Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs

Purpose and scope

• Regulates patents, layout designs of integrated circuits, plant varieties and industrial designs; it is now applied by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property.

Key rules, rights and obligations

• Protection lasts twenty years for a patent, ten years for a layout design (capped at fifteen years from its creation), twenty years for a plant variety (twenty-five for trees and vines) and ten years for an industrial design (Article 19).
• An annual fee is due at the start of each year; if it is three months late the fee doubles, and if it is still unpaid within three further months after a warning the application or document lapses (Article 18).
• A licence to exploit the protected right binds third parties only once it is registered with the competent authority (Article 21).

Violations, penalties and common problems

• Where infringement is proven the competent committee orders it to stop and awards compensation, and may impose a fine of up to one hundred thousand riyals, doubled for a repeat; the matter goes to the competent judicial body if prison is warranted, and the decision is published (Article 34).
• Other breaches of the law carry a fine of up to fifty thousand riyals, with the maximum doubled for a repeat (Article 61).
• Common problems: unpaid annual fees, exploitation under an unregistered licence, and late objections.

Procedures and key deadlines

• A formal deficiency in the application must be cured within ninety days of notification, or the application is treated as never filed (Article 12).
• Decisions of the authority and the committee may be challenged before the competent judicial body within sixty days of notification (Article 37).

An advisory summary prepared by Al-Bayan Al-Wadih Law Firm. It is not an official text and does not replace the law, its implementing regulations, or advice from a specialised lawyer. The official published text and its amendments prevail.