Qatar accedes to Nice Agreement

WIPO

Author Emanuel Berrod Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 

 

Jane Lambert

The World Intellectual Property Organization has announced Qatar's accession to the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (see Nice Notification No 147, 10 Nov 2025).  The Agreement will take effect with regard to Qatar from 10 Feb 2026.

Qatar is already a contracting party to the Madrid Protocol (see the list of WIPO-administered treaties to which Qatar is a contracting party).   Its main intellectual property laws are as follows:

• Law No. 9 of 2002 on Trademarks, Trade Names, Geographical Indications and Industrial Designs  
• Law No. 7 of 2002 on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights  
• Law No. 6 of 2005 on Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits  
• Law No. 5 of 2005 on Protection of Trade Secrets  
• Patent Law (promulgated by Decree-Law No. 30 of 2006)   
• Emiri Decree No. 53 of 2009 establishing the Centre for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights  
• Law No. 7 of 2014 on Approval of the Trademarks Law of the Gulf Cooperation Council States and 
• No. 10 of 2020 on the Protection of Industrial Designs.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or the Qatari International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre may call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during UK office hours or send me a message through my contact page at any other time.

Further Reading

Jane Lambert Qatar at the WIPO 22 Oct 2919

Jane Lambert The Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre 28 July 2012

Jane Lambert  Qatar Intellectual Property Law  1 May 2012

Jane Lambert Qatar Financial Centre: Civil and Commercial Court Regulations  28 June 2011

Jane Lambert  Qatar Financial Centre  3 April 2011

Saudi Arabia: More IP Information in English

On 22 May 2011 I wrote Saudi Arabia: Overview of Intellectual Property Law. I supplemented that article with Information in English on Saudi Patent Law on 26 July 2014. In my first article I wrote:

"There is no intellectual property office as such. Patents, industrial designs, chip topographies and plant varieties are registered by the The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology ("KACST") which is also the Saudi Arabian national science agency, national laboratory and internet authority for the .sa country code top level domain."

KACST has now devoted a section of its website to patents, designs, semiconductor topographies and plant breeders' rights.

KACST now publishes the Saudi Law of Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs (Royal Decree No. (M/27) dated 17/7/2004) and the Implementing Regulations of theLaw of Patents, Layout Designs ofIntegrated Circuits, Plant Varieties,and Industrial Designs in English. This legislation is supplemented by FAQ on patents, industrial designs, plant varieties and integrated circuits. There are links to the Paris Convention and TRIPS, flowcharts of the patent and design application processes and statistics.

Should anyone wish to discuss this article or Saudi intellectual property law in general, call me on +44 7404 5252 during office hours or use my contact form.

Gulf Co-operation Council Member States - Treaties and Intellectual Property Authorities

Country	Treaties and Conventions	Intellectual Property Office
Bahrain	Berne, Brussels, Madrid Protocol, Paris, Patent Co-operation, Patent Law, Rome, Trademark Law, TRIPS, WIPO Copyright, WIPO Performances and Phonograms	Ministry of Industry and Commerce P.O. Box 5479 Manama Bahrain +973 17530335
Kuwait	TRIPS	Ministry of Trade and Industry Trademarks and Patents Department P.O. Box 2944 Safat 13030 Kuwait +965 22 42 4426
Oman	Berne, Brussels, Budapest, Hague, Madrid Protocol, Nairobi, Paris, Patent Co-operation, Patent Law, Trademark Law, TRIPS, UPOV, WIPO Copyright, WIPO Performances and Phonograms	Ministry of Commerce and Industry P.O. Box 550 Code No. 113 Muscat Oman+968 247 741 26 / 992 226 22
Qatar	Berne, Nairobi, Paris, Patent Co-operation, TRIPS, WIPO Copyright, WIPO Performances and Phonograms	Intellectual Property Center Ministry of Justice P.O. Box 917 Doha Qata +974 448 42 292
Saudi Arabia	Berne, Paris, TRIPS	General Directorate of Industrial Property, King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) P.O. Box 6086 Riyadh 11442 +9661 481 4342
United Arab Emirates	Berne, Paris, Patent Co-operation, Rome, TRIPS, WIPO Copyright, WIPO Performances and Phonograms	Directorate of Industrial Property, Ministry of Economy and Commerce P.O. Box 901 Abu Dhabi +971 2 613 1336

Intellectual Property Law in Oman

Oman has an estimated population of 3.6 million in a land area of 309,501 square kilometres. It is a member of the Gulf Co-operation Council ("GCC") and the World Trade Organization ("WTO"). Formerly one of the least developed states in the Gulf, the Sultanate has made such rapid progress since 1970 in economic, political and social development that the United Nations Development Programme acclaimed Oman as the most improved country in the world (see the UNDP Human Development Report for 4 Nov 2010).

Treaties

As a member of the WTO Oman is party to TRIPS (the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and is thereby bound by the obligations discussed in my article on "Intellectual Property Law in Kuwait". As a member of the GCC, the GCC Patent Regulation and Implementing Bylaws apply in Oman. Oman is also party to the Paris and Berne Conventions, the WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties, the Patent and Trademark Law Treaties, the UPOV Convention and the Patent Co-operation Treaty, Madrid Protocol and Hague Agreement (see the WIPO Treaties Contracting Parties page for Oman).

Legislation

Oman implements its obligations under those treaties through a number of Royal Decrees made in 2000 on patents, copyrights and neighbouring rights, trade marks and unfair competition, industrial designs, geographical indications and semiconductor topographies. The Sultanate's copyright law has been supplemented by Royal Decree No. 65/2008 Promulgating the Law on Copyright and Related Rights and its law on industrial property rights by Royal Decree No 67/2008. Royal Decree No 49/2009 on the protection of plant breeders' rights has come into effect this year the text of which is available in Arabic.

Intellectual Property Office

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the intellectual property office for the Sultanate. The English language page of the Ministry's website suggests that it will soon be possible to file patent, utility model and trade mark applications on-line.

Dispute Resolution

Oman has enacted robust arbitration legislation which would resolve licensing, joint venture and other disputes relating to intellectual property. A press release on 16 March 2010 indicated that the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry planned to establish an international arbitration centre in the country. A delegation from the Bar of England and Wales visited Oman in December 2010 (see the Bar Council's press release of 3 Dec 2010).

Further Information

Oman is a country of considerable potential and one that I follow particularly closely. Anyone who wishes to discuss this article or any other issue concerning intellectual property law in the Gulf should call me on 0800 862 0055 or complete my contact form.