smartsan
11-24-2009, 08:42 AM
Patents
Patents, trademarks and designs are protected in Bahrain by virtue of the Patent, Design and Trademark Law of 1995, as periodically amended. Protection is based on registration at the Patents and Trademarks Registration Office.
If a registered patent or design is not used within two years of the filing date of the application to register, third parties may apply to the court for the registration to be revoked.
The validity of a patent registration is for fifteen years only. It can be renewed for five years provided that the patent is of special significance and the income realized from it during the original term is not reasonable relative to the expenses incurred. The other procedures and protection regarding patents are similar to those of trademarks. One exception is that registration of patents in Bahrain requires either a home registration or any other foreign registration of the patent.
Designs
The validity of a design registration in Bahrain is for five years, renewable for two further terms of five years each. The other procedures of registration are similar to those of trademarks. One exception is that a design registration of designs in Bahrain requires either a home registration or any other foreign registration of the design.
Trademarks
According to the Patent, Design and Trademark Law, a trademark registration is valid for ten years from the date of filing the application. Thereafter, a trademark registration is renewable for periods of ten years each. Trademarks are defined as everything that takes a distinctive form such as names, words, signatures, characters, number, drawings, etc., if used in distinguishing products, goods or services.
Once a trademark application is filed, the trademark is examined as to its registerability. Trademark applications accepted by the Registrar are published in the Official Gazette. There is a sixty-day period open for filing an opposition by any interested party. An opposition to the registration of a trademark should be prosecuted before the Registrar by an authorized agent or the proprietors themselves within the prescribed period as from the date of publication. Such an opposition case is settled by the Registrar. In the absence of opposition, a published trademark is registered, and the certificate of registration is issued.
Unauthorized use of a trademark registered under the law or an imitation of such trademark applied on goods of the same class, or sale, storing for the purpose of sale, or exhibiting for sale of goods bearing a counmark, or using a mark duly registered under the law by another person to serve the purpose of unauthorized promotion of goods of the same class are offenses punishable under the law in Bahrain.
Copyright:
The Copyright Law was introduced to Bahrain's legislative system in 1993. The Copyright Law protects authors of intellectual property such as books, paintings, photographs, cinematographic, radio and television works and personally created computer software and databases and was enacted in order to combat pirating of videotapes, audiotapes, artistic work and computer software.
Ministerial Order 4 of 1993 established a Copyright Protection Office in the Ministry of Information. The Copyright Protection Office examines applications for copyright protection, accepts the deposit of works after payment of fees, and registers the transfer of copyrights. The Office is also responsible for examining international copyright agreements and implementing those which Bahrain has executed.
The Copyright Law applies to: (1) the works of Bahraini authors which are published for the first time, whether in or outside of Bahrain; (2) works of foreign authors that are published for the first time in Bahrain; and (3) works of Arab authors who are nationals of a Member State that has ratified the Arab Copyright Protection Agreement of 1958 and whose work is published for the first time in a Member State.
Copyright protection lapses, in general, fifty years after the death of the author or, in the event of jointly owned intellectual property, fifty years after the death of the last surviving author.
With respect to the following works, the protection lapses fifty calendar years after the date of publication: (1) films, photographs and applied art; (2) works published under a pseudonym; (3) works which belong to a corporate entity; and (4) works first published after the author's death.
In the case of computer software, the copyright protection will lapse either fifty years after the completion of the work or forty years from the date of publication, whichever is earlier
Patents, trademarks and designs are protected in Bahrain by virtue of the Patent, Design and Trademark Law of 1995, as periodically amended. Protection is based on registration at the Patents and Trademarks Registration Office.
If a registered patent or design is not used within two years of the filing date of the application to register, third parties may apply to the court for the registration to be revoked.
The validity of a patent registration is for fifteen years only. It can be renewed for five years provided that the patent is of special significance and the income realized from it during the original term is not reasonable relative to the expenses incurred. The other procedures and protection regarding patents are similar to those of trademarks. One exception is that registration of patents in Bahrain requires either a home registration or any other foreign registration of the patent.
Designs
The validity of a design registration in Bahrain is for five years, renewable for two further terms of five years each. The other procedures of registration are similar to those of trademarks. One exception is that a design registration of designs in Bahrain requires either a home registration or any other foreign registration of the design.
Trademarks
According to the Patent, Design and Trademark Law, a trademark registration is valid for ten years from the date of filing the application. Thereafter, a trademark registration is renewable for periods of ten years each. Trademarks are defined as everything that takes a distinctive form such as names, words, signatures, characters, number, drawings, etc., if used in distinguishing products, goods or services.
Once a trademark application is filed, the trademark is examined as to its registerability. Trademark applications accepted by the Registrar are published in the Official Gazette. There is a sixty-day period open for filing an opposition by any interested party. An opposition to the registration of a trademark should be prosecuted before the Registrar by an authorized agent or the proprietors themselves within the prescribed period as from the date of publication. Such an opposition case is settled by the Registrar. In the absence of opposition, a published trademark is registered, and the certificate of registration is issued.
Unauthorized use of a trademark registered under the law or an imitation of such trademark applied on goods of the same class, or sale, storing for the purpose of sale, or exhibiting for sale of goods bearing a counmark, or using a mark duly registered under the law by another person to serve the purpose of unauthorized promotion of goods of the same class are offenses punishable under the law in Bahrain.
Copyright:
The Copyright Law was introduced to Bahrain's legislative system in 1993. The Copyright Law protects authors of intellectual property such as books, paintings, photographs, cinematographic, radio and television works and personally created computer software and databases and was enacted in order to combat pirating of videotapes, audiotapes, artistic work and computer software.
Ministerial Order 4 of 1993 established a Copyright Protection Office in the Ministry of Information. The Copyright Protection Office examines applications for copyright protection, accepts the deposit of works after payment of fees, and registers the transfer of copyrights. The Office is also responsible for examining international copyright agreements and implementing those which Bahrain has executed.
The Copyright Law applies to: (1) the works of Bahraini authors which are published for the first time, whether in or outside of Bahrain; (2) works of foreign authors that are published for the first time in Bahrain; and (3) works of Arab authors who are nationals of a Member State that has ratified the Arab Copyright Protection Agreement of 1958 and whose work is published for the first time in a Member State.
Copyright protection lapses, in general, fifty years after the death of the author or, in the event of jointly owned intellectual property, fifty years after the death of the last surviving author.
With respect to the following works, the protection lapses fifty calendar years after the date of publication: (1) films, photographs and applied art; (2) works published under a pseudonym; (3) works which belong to a corporate entity; and (4) works first published after the author's death.
In the case of computer software, the copyright protection will lapse either fifty years after the completion of the work or forty years from the date of publication, whichever is earlier