LAWS
Basic
law of the Sultanate of Oman (as last amended by Royal Decree No. 99/2011)
(2011).
IP
LAWS
Royal
Decree No. 49/2009 promulgating the Law on the Protection of Breeders’ Rights
in New Varieties of Plants (2010).
Industrial
Property Rights and their Enforcement for the Sultanate of Oman (Royal Decree
No. 67/2008) (2008).
Royal Decree
No. 65/2008 promulgating the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (2008).
RULES
AND REGULATION
Ministry
of Trade and Industry Ministerial Decree No. 103/2008 issuing the executive
regulations of the Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (2008).
Regulations No.
105/2008 under the Law on Industrial Property Rights & Their Enforcement
for the Sultanate of Oman (2008).
TREATIES
Hague
Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs
(March 4, 2009)
Brussels
Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals
Transmitted by Satellite (March 18, 2008)
Budapest Treaty
on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for the
Purposes of Patent Procedure (October 16, 2007)
Patent Law
Treaty (October 16, 2007)
Protocol
Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of
Marks (October 16, 2007)
Trademark Law
Treaty (October 16, 2007)
WIPO Copyright
Treaty (September 20, 2005)
WIPO
Performances and Phonograms Treaty (September 20, 2005)
Patent
Cooperation Treaty (October 26, 2001)
Berne
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (July 14, 1999)
Paris
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (July 14, 1999)
Convention
Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (February 19, 1997)
Nairobi Treaty
on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol (March 26, 1986).
Intellectual Property Office of Oman
PO Box 550,
Postal Code 100, Muscat
Sultanate of
Oman
Tel + 968 24
812 030
Fax + 968 24
814 230
Mail
info@mocioman.gov.om
www.mocioman.gov.om
Oman
is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
The International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the
Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement is followed in Oman. A separate application
should be filed with respect to each class of goods or services.
Once
a trademark or a service mark application is filed, the mark is examined as to
its registrability. The Registrar may object in writing to certain aspects of
the mark in the course of examination, such as the scope of goods or services,
or he may ask for the modification of the mark. Trademark or service mark
applications accepted for registration by the Registrar are published in the
Official Gazette and once in a local daily newspaper. It is necessary to
specify the list of goods/services at the time of filing for a registration of
a trademark to avoid any opposition that might take place; the same also
applies when renewing a trademark.
Trademark Requirements:
1. A
power of attorney, with an Apostille certification. A general power may be used
for subsequent filings.
2. A
simple copy of the extract from the Commercial Register or certificate of
incorporation of the applicant company.
3. A
certified copy of the priority document (in case priority is to be claimed).
Time frame:
-
The expected time frame from filing a trade
mark application up to registration, in the normal course of action is from 12
to 16 month.
Renewal Requirements:
-
A power of attorney, with an Apostille
certification.
Recordal of License Agreement Requirements:
-
A power of attorney from the licensee, with an
Apostille certification.
-
A license agreement, with an Apostille
certification.
-
A copy of certificate of incorporation of the
licensee company or an extract of its entry in the commercial register or a
good standing certificate including all relevant information.
Recordal of Change of name and/or address:
-
A power of attorney in the new name and/ or
address with an Apostille certification.
-
A certified copy of the certificate of change
of name and/or address.
Recordal of Assignment Requirements:
-
A power of attorney from the assignee, with an
Apostille certification.
-
A deed of assignment, with an Apostille
certification.
-
A copy of certificate of incorporation of the
assignee company or an extract of its entry in the commercial register or a
good standing certificate including all relevant information.
Opposition proceedings:
Any
interested person may, within the period of ninety (90) days and in the
prescribed manner, give a notice to the Registrar of opposition, which shall be
reasoned and in writing, to the registration of the mark on the grounds that
one or more of the requirements of Sections 1 and 37(2) and the Regulations
pertaining thereto are not fulfilled. The Registrar shall publish a notice of
the opposition in the Official Gazette and serve a copy of the opposition to
the applicant who should be, within the period of ninety (90) days and in the
prescribed manner, send to the Registrar a counter-statement of the grounds on
which he relies for his application; if he does not do so, he shall be deemed
to have abandoned the application. If the applicant sends a counter-statement,
the Registrar shall furnish a copy thereof to the person giving notice of opposition
and after hearing the parties, if either or both wish to be heard, and
considering the merits of the case, shall decide whether the mark should be
registered.
Subject
to the provisions of Article (98) of Trademarks law no. 67/2008 Law, the
parties concerned shall be entitled to appeal registrar opposition decision
before the civil competent court within 60 days from the communication of such
a decision.
TIME FRAME:
-
Time frame required for preparing and filing an
opposition or counterstatement with the Trademarks Office and follow up its
proceedings till final settlement from 12 to 16 months.
Cancellation action Based on Non-Use:
According
to the Article No. 42 of the Omani Trademarks Law No. 67/2008 any interested
party may file an application for cancelling a registered mark with the
Trademarks Office (in respect of any or all the goods or services for which it
is registered) if the concerned mark has not been used by the registered owner
or a licensee during a continuous period of three years or longer. After the
request for cancellation is submitted the Trademarks, Office notifies the owner
of the mark and requests them to reply to the cancellation application within
60 days from the notification date. This given period of sixty days period is
extendable for one further month on the basis that the owner of the trademark
files a request for the extension. If, however, the owner did not reply to the
cancellation application during the prescribed period, they will be deemed as
abandoning the registration of the mark and as such the registrar will issue
his decision for cancelling striking out the same from the Trademarks Register.
As
for the use burden, the registrant of the mark will have to submit documents
evidencing the use the mark in the Omani market. However, the trademarks
Registrar will not remove the mark if it is shown that special circumstances
prevented the use of the mark, such as import restrictions or other government
or market impediments to commercialization, and that there was no intention not
to use or to abandon the mark.
The
Omani Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that it began accepting
filing of patent applications in Oman effective December 17, 2005. As of
October 26, 2001, Oman has been a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
as per Royal Decree No. 37/2001 issued on April 24, 2001 and published in the
Official Gazette No. 694 on May 1, 2001.
This
filing became possible due to the issuance of the schedule of official charges
for patent services rendered by the Ministry. The charges were issued by
Ministerial Decision No. 91/2005 dated December 10, 2005 and were published in
the Official Gazette No. 805 on December 17, 2005.
The
schedule includes charges for the following services for both individuals and
companies: filing of a patent application, providing a letters-patent, payment
of patent annuities from (2nd -20th), amendment of patent application,
recording a change of ownership or an assignment, obtaining a copy of the
patent from the register, granting of a compulsory license, filing a petition,
and publication in the Official Gazette.
The
Omani Patent Law was issued in 2000 by Sultanic Decree No. 82/2000. The
Implementing Regulations were issued by Ministerial Decision No. 73/2005 dated
September 10, 2005 and were published in the Official Gazette No. 799 dated
September 17, 2005.
Filing Requirements:
1. A
power of attorney executed by the applicant, with an Apostille certification.
2. A
certified copy of the certificate of incorporation or an Extract from the
Commercial Register of the applicant company, with an Apostille certification.
3. A
deed of Assignment executed by the inventor(s), assigning their patent rights
to the applicant, with an Apostille certification.
4. A
certified copy of priority document. If the documents are not in English, a simple
English translation is required.
5. An
abstract of the invention for the purpose of the publication of the invention
in the Official Gazette of no more than 200 words showing the inventor’s name,
address and nationality, brief description of the invention and claims, the
technical field, the drawings, if any and how to solve problems that may
occurred in writing and in Compact CD.
6. Detailed description of the invention in English and Arabic in writing and in Compact CD showing the followings:
·
Title of the invention
·
Technical field
·
Technical background
·
Disclosure of the invention
·
Description of drawings
·
Detailed description of the invention
·
Method of industrial application of invention
·
• Claims • Abstract of invention •Drawings, if
any.
·
Copies of the International search report and
preliminary examination and copy of the PCT application as published.
Notes:
Patent
application can be filed without the supporting documents mentioned above.
However, all above documents should be filed within three (3) months from
filing the application with exception to the legalized power of attorney which
should be submitted within two months from filing date. Otherwise, the
application will lapse. Please be advised that it is possible to extend the
deadline for filing the POA for further one month, however, it will be up to
the Registrar sole discretion whether to accept the late filing of the
legalized POA or not.
Please
be advised that it is possible to extend the deadline for filing these documents
for further one month, however, it will be up to the Registrar sole discretion
whether to accept the late filing of the legalized POA or not.
Novelty:
As
per the Law the invention is patentable if it is:
Novel
Of
an “Inventive Step” (non-obvious)
Industrially Applicable
Not
in conflict with the general order or the rules of Islamic Shariaa or adversely
influence the national security or the public morals.
The
invention is patentable whether it is related to novel industrial products or
produced by currently used industrial means or by new application of known
industrial means.
Although
the law does not stated any provisions related to the meaning of the novelty
however, from the general concept of the law it is understandable that the
invention should be “new” and was not disclosed to public anywhere at any time
whether by written, oral disclosure or by use or any other method.
Procedures:
Upon
filing the application with the above-mentioned information and details the IP
Department will check to confirm that the patent is not contradicted with the
law and also will check in their records of registered patent or pending
applications to find out whether the application is new or not. The applicant
will be notified of Department’s decisions in writing. If the application is
accepted the IP department will publish the abstract of the patent in the
Official Gazette for the opposition purpose (Opposition period is 60 days) and
the patent will be grant if no opposition has been filed during such period.
Effective Date:
The
Patent Implementing regulations are effective from the date of publication in
the Official Gazette i.e., 17 September 2005. However, since the Official Fees
have only been announced on December 17, 2005 it only became possible to file
Patent application in Oman after this date.
Examination:
Substantive
examination as however, has been informed to us by the IP Department there will
be substantive examination for patents.
Claiming Priority:
Priority
can be claimed under Paris convention provided that the application filed in
Oman within twelve (12) months from the first filing.
Duration:
The
patent protection is valid for twenty years as of the date of grant. The
invention shall also be protected as of the date of filing the patent
application, to the date of the patent grant.
Language:
Patents’
Official forms are in Arabic language. Further, all papers in foreign language
related to Patent submitted to the IP Department should be accompanied with
Arabic translation.
Annuities:
In
accordance to the Omani Patent Law 2nd annuity fees must be paid at the time of
filing. For national application annuity fees are paid on the anniversary date
of the filing the patent application with a grace period of three months
without a fine and six months with a fine. The payment of annuities can be made
on or before the due date at any time and for any number of years. However,
annuities can still be paid during the 3 months after the due date without a
late payment fee and another 3 months with a late payment fee, (the total grace
period is 6 months).
Opposition:
Any
interested party may oppose grant of a patent within sixty days from the
publication in the Official Gazette of the decision of acceptance of the patent
application.
The
design law, which has been issued by Royal Decree No. 67/2008 on May 12, 2008,
came into effect on, May 18, 2000 and it is possible to register the Industrial
Design in Oman.
Two
years after the issuance of the regulations implementing the Industrial Design
Law (Chapter III of the Omani Industrial Property Law no. 67/2008), the Omani
Patent Office is accepting design applications for the first time in the
country. However, it is important to note that although it is possible to file
an application, the Omani Intellectual Property Department is yet to disclose
specific formalities regarding examination, publication, registration and
renewal.
Main
Features of Design Protection in Oman as Indicated in the Industrial Property
Law no. 67/2008
Validity:
-
The validity is 5 years calculated from the
filing date.
Examination:
-
The main aspect for the examiner is the
novelty.
Applications with Multiple Figures:
-
Admissible up to 100 designs provided that all
these designs belong to the same class in international specifications.
Filing Requirements:
1. A
power of attorney, with an Apostille certification.
2. A
copy of certificate of incorporation or extract from the commercial register,
certified.
3. A
deed of assignment from the designer(s) to the applicant, with an Apostille
certification.
4. Full
description of the design, name of the designer and 4 prints of the design.
Renewal:
-
It is permitted under the Omani law to submit a
renewal request for two consecutive terms of 5 years each.
The
law grants protection to authors of literary, artistic and scientific works
whatever the value, kind or purpose or way of expression of the work is.
Generally, the protection will be provided for works whose means of expression
is writing, sound, drawing, image or motion picture. It will also include
creative titles and computer software, which are published, acted or displayed
for the first time in the Sultanate of Oman or abroad. Oman is a member of the
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
Validity:
-
The term of protection is the lifetime of the
author plus 50 years following his/her death.
Filing Requirements – Copyright Application:
1. A
Power of Attorney legalized up to the Consulate of Oman.
2. Three
original samples of the work.
3. A
copy of the home registration certificate or registration effective elsewhere.