JAH Jurisdictional Update: Bahrain, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia

Bahrain:  Reduction of Patent fees for individuals

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has implemented progressive Fee adjustments in a significant move to foster innovation and support intellectual property rights by reducing the official fees for Patent registration for individuals. The Ministry has announced the reduction in its Official Gazette No. 3699 dated 21 Sep. 2023.

Below is a table describing the previous and current official fees for your easy reading:

Under the new regulations, individuals can now benefit from this reduction, making it easier for inventors to protect and share their ideas.

Pakistan: Adoption of new regulations for Designs Rules

The Federal Government of Pakistan has adopted new regulations for Designs Rules, 2023 which published in the Official Gazette Part-II on March 11, 2023 and came into force immediately thereafter.

The salient features of the new Designs Rules under the Registered Designs Ordinance, 2000 are as under:

• Fees: Official fees for all matters pertaining to designs have been
• New Classification: adoption of Locarno classification of articles which has 32 classes instead of the previous one that has only 12 classes. The 14th edition of the Locarno Classification can be used in this regard
• Representations: representation of design can be furnished in various forms such as drawings, photographs, three-dimensional models or any combination thereof and including any other visual representation of design either in color or in black and
• Timeframe for examination report response: applicants have two months from the date of issuance of an examination report to This period can be extended for up to six months, subject to the payment of prescribed fees.
• Design registration certificate: to obtain a design registration certificate, applicants must submit a request subsequent to examination with the prescribed official
• Publication of registered designs: after registration and issuance of the registration certificate, a suitable representation of the registered design will be published in the Patents Journal, along with other relevant
• Restoration of lapsed designs: If a design registration lapses due to non-compliance, restoration is possible within six months by filing extension request along with the prescribed late 
• E-filing: The new rules provide options for e-filing whenever the portal is ready to accept online design

Saudi Arabia: SAIP Signed a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Agreement with Singapore.

As a progressive and growing vision to accelerate treatment of patent applications in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) has now launched their joint Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) to fast-process and speed-up the examination process for corresponding applications filed in participating intellectual property offices. This move is yet another significant milestone achieved by SAIP to promote and attract more inventors to secure their IP rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In this respect, it should be noted that while before the joint Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), SAIP has already signed and cemented similar agreements with the European Patent Office (EPO), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).JAH Jurisdictional Update: Bahrain, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia