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Find out moreThe first Law Update of 2024 is here, and our first focus of the year spotlights Healthcare and Lifesciences, a sector that is undergoing significant growth and development across the MENA region.
Our focus provides an insight into some of the most important regulatory updates across the region, such as the UAE’s groundbreaking law on the use of human genome, Kuwait’s resolution on nuclear and radioactive materials, the new regulations for healthcare services in Qatar, Egypt’s healthcare regulatory framework, and the impact of the Saudi Civil Transactions Law on the healthcare and life sciences sector … and there is so much more!
Beyond the healthcare pages our lawyers share with you multi-sector insights where you will discover articles on Dubai’s DIFC regulatory framework for startups, Bahrain’s commercial agencies law, and we also shed light on Kuwaiti civil code and the advantages of setting up a joint stock company in Saudi Arabia.
Read the full editionTarek Abu Mariam - Senior Associate - Corporate / Mergers and Acquisitions / Intellectual Property
April 2013
Unfortunately these procedures have not been available to prospective applications during the past years for many reasons, including the lack of the necessary competencies to carry out the examinations.
In the past, the Patent Office would accept applications and provide filing receipts, but no further action was taken in respect of such applications. The result was that prospective applicants started excluding Kuwait from their protection strategies and more importantly business models related to key inventions. The risks associate with the infringement of key patents in Kuwait resulting from the absence of adequate protection for patents and the ability to prevent such infringement became a critical risk factor for assessment in deciding whether to enter the Kuwaiti market for certain business.
This situation has changed to some extent and the good news is that the Kuwaiti Patent Office has started examining industrial design applications and publishing them for opposition purposes. Once the period of opposition expires, the Patent Office will issue a registration certificate in compliance with the above mentioned law.
It is hoped that this is a possible first step for the Kuwaiti Patent Office to begin the examination of patents and complete the registration process for the grant of patent protection in the state of Kuwait. Many countries have cooperated well with the European Patent Office (EPO), United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in respect of the functioning of their patent systems and collaboration with these offices may also be valuable to the Kuwaiti Government to ensure that Kuwait’s patent system becomes fully functional.
The next important question for design right owners is going to be how effective the enforcement of design rights will be in Kuwait.
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