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Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Saudi Arabia

Title:Articles 12 and 13 of the Law of Patents, Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs of 2004 and Articles 34, 35 and 36 of the Regulations thereto
Field of IP:Patents
Type of flexibility:Substantive examination
Summary table:PDF

Provisions of Law

Article Twelve

The Directorate shall examine the registered applications in terms of formalities. If it appears, from the examination, that some of the legally prescribed conditions are not satisfied it may instruct the applicant to satisfy them within a maximum of ninety days from the date of notification. If he did not fulfill what was requested within the said period, his application would be considered as if it had never been filed.

Article Thirteen

Once the application for patent or plant patent has been examined in terms of formalities, it shall be examined in terms of substance, in accordance with what is stated in the Regulations.

Regulations

Article (34)

Registered applications shall be examined to ensure that they satisfy the formal conditions provided for in Articles 8 and 10 of the Law and the articles of Part Two of these Regulations for each subject of protection. If it is found from the formal examination that some of the prescribed conditions are not satisfied, the applicant shall be requested to satisfy them within a period not exceeding ninety days from the date of notifying him thereof. If he fails to perform what is requested from him within the said period, his application shall be deemed null and void.

Article (35)

(1)If it is found from the formal examination of the application for a patent or a plant patent that the application satisfies formal requirements, the Directorate shall notify the applicant to pay the prescribed publication fees within a grace period of three months. If he does not pay within the specified period, the application and publication thereof shall be rejected, and this shall be recorded in the Register and published in the Gazette.

(2)The Directorate shall assess the necessary expenses for the examination of the substance of the application for a patent or a plant patent. The assessments shall be in accordance with the actual cost of examination, and the applicant shall be required to pay it within three months from the date of his notification thereof. If he fails to pay, the application shall be rejected and this shall be recorded in the Register and published in the Gazette.

(3)Upon payment of the costs assessed above, the Directorate shall examine the substance of the application.

Article (36)

The Directorate shall examine the substance of the application for the patent to ensure that the application satisfies the conditions provided for in Articles (4), (43), (44), (45) and (46) of the Law and the provisions stipulated in these Regulations. For that purpose, it may perform the following:

-Classify the application in accordance with the International Classification of Patents.

-Examine the protection elements, the description and the illustrations.

-Search the data bases at the Directorate, or on the Internet or at other patent offices.

-Compare available documents with the invention.

The Directorate shall prepare the report of the substantial examination which shall include its opinion as to whether the application satisfies the conditions provided for and the required explanations and amendments.

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