The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Council of Ministers has recently approved an amended Patent and Industrial Design Law, which entered into force on 3rd October 2023.
The amendments have introduced various changes of note to these laws, including the following:
- Saudi Arabia acceded to The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille).
- The term of protection of registered designs has been extended from 10 years to 15 years from the filing date, subject to the payment of renewal fees during the additional five years of protection. We are still waiting to hear whether this new term applies only to applications filed after 3rd October 2023, or whether it also applies to cases filed before this date. Read more