Trademark Requirements:

A power of attorney, with an Apostille certification. A general power may be used for subsequent filings.

A simple copy of the extract from the Commercial Register or certificate of incorporation of the applicant company.

A certified copy of the priority document (in case priority is to be claimed).

Time frame from filing a trade mark application up to registration, on average, in the case that no office action or oppositions are issued or lodged.

Filing up to Examination :4-6 month

Examination up to Publication : 4-6 month

Opposition Period : 3 month

End of Opposition Period up to Issuance of Registration Certificate : 2 month

Total Estimated Time Frame : 12-16 month

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.

Time frame needed for completing a registered user/license agreement from submitting the recordal application till issuance of the user/license agreement certificate.

Filing up to Examination : One month

Examination up to Publication :6 month

Total Estimated Time Frame till issuance of the user/license agreement certificate :8-12 month

Renewal Requirements:

A power of attorney, with an Apostille certification. A general power may be used for subsequent renewals.Grace period of 6 months is given.

Time frame from filing a trademark renewal application up till issuance of the renewal certificate

Filing up to Examination : One month

Examination up to Publication if exits : 3 month

Publication to Issuance of Renewal Certificate : 6-8 month

Total Estimated Time Frame : 6-8 month

 

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.

Time frame needed for completing a change of name and/or address recordal:

Filing up to Examination : One month

Total Estimated Time Frame :4 month

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.

Time frame needed for completing the recordal of an assignment/merger recordal

Filing up to Examination : One month

Publication to Issuance of Certificate Recordal : 6 month

Total Estimated Time Frame : 8-12 month

Marketing Agency Agreement:

Marketing agency agreements between an Omani entity and foreign company have to be registered with the Department of Commercial Agencies, Ministry of industries and Commerce.

Marketing Agency Registration Requirements:

A power of attorney legalized up to an Omani consulate authorizing us to register the agency agreement.

A legalized copy of the agency agreement or contract executed between the principal and his agent.

A statement as to how the agent will carry out his obligations specified in the agreement.

A copy of the permit of establishing a foreign professional company.

A declaration from the individual merchant that there have been no conviction judgments against him that tarnish honor and good repute or bankruptcy, unless he retrieved his esteem.

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:

12-16 month

Cancellation of a Registered Trademark 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.

ADDITIONAL TIME FRAMES:

Time frame required for preparing and filing a lawsuit of any type such as infringement or cancellation action and follow up its proceedings till final settlement.

16- 18 month

Time frame required for filing an appeal with the trademarks registrar or court as applicable regarding an opposition action, counterstatement or rejection

3 month

Patent Protection
MUSCAT – The Omani Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that it began accepting filing of patent applications in Oman effective December 17, 2005.

 

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.

The practice, which was followed before the issuance of the Implementing Regulations, was to publish cautionary notices in local newspapers. These notices define the owner’s interest in the property, announce the ownership thereto and alert the public against any possible infringement.

As for the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications, (as Oman is a member of the PCT as of October 26, 2001), the practice was to submit all the documents related to the PCT before the Intellectual Property Department at the Omani Ministry of Commerce and Industry and get their acknowledgement to save clients’ interests. No official numbers were given to such PCT filings.

Another way of protecting patents was through the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Patent Office in Riyadh – Saudi Arabia, which provides protection for the member states of the GCC, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

 

Filing Requirements:

A power of attorney executed by the applicant, with an Apostille certification.

A certified copy of the certificate of incorporation or an Extract from the Commercial Register of the applicant company, with an Apostille certification.

A deed of Assignment executed by the inventor(s), assigning their patent rights to the applicant, with an Apostille certification.

A certified copy of priority document. If the documents are not in English, a simple English translation is required.

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.

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.

Note:

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 docuemnts 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 2^nd annuity fees must be paid at the time of filing. For a 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.

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

Duration:
5 years from the filing date.

Examination:
As to form and 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:
A power of attorney, with an Apostille certification.
A copy of certificate of incorporation or extract from the commercial register, certified.
A deed of assignment from the designer(s) to the applicant, with an Apostille certification.
Full description of the design, name of the designer and 4 prints of the design.

Renewal:
For two consecutive terms of 5 years each.

The Omani copyright law, issued by Royal Decree No.37/2000 dated May 21, 2000, became effective on June 3, 2000.

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.

The term of protection is the lifetime of the author plus 50 years following his/her death.

Copyright works may be deposited at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and shall be considered a presumption of ownership.

Oman is a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

Filing Requirements – Copyright Application
A Power of Attorney legalized up to the Consulate of Oman.
Three original samples of the work.
A copy of the home registration certificate or registration effective elsewhere.