The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property and the Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office Launch PPH Pilot Program

The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (“SAIP”) and the Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office (“OMPIC”) jointly announced the launch of a pilot program for the Patent Prosecution Highway (“PPH”) on April 24, 2024. The PPH aims to streamline the patent application process between partnering offices that would allow each office to utilise examination results from the other office. The process greatly accelerates the patent grant phase. This in turn not only reduces the backlog of patent application but also a shared understanding for efficiency.

SAIP and OMPIC have agreed to share information on latest developments in their respective countries and best practices for IP management. Beyond that, the collaboration also seeks to explore new areas, such as artificial intelligence (“AI”) and information and communication technology (“ICT”).

The PPH between SAIP and OMPIC is the latest of offices that Saudi Arabia has partnered with under the pilot program. This initiative came to strengthen existing SAIP’s PPH partnerships with a number of other patent offices including Singapore, USA, Japan, South Korea, China, USA, and the European Patent Office.

Patent applicants filing in Saudi Arabia who are interested in filing in any of these other countries can now benefit from the streamlined PPH programs subject to meeting the eligibility requirements.

How can we help?

For any enquiries relating to this new PPH initiative or assistance with patent prosecution and IP management, please feel free to contact Ahmad Saleh, Partner & Head of Innovation, Patents & Industrial Property (3IP), or reach out to our dedicated 3IP team.