Libya: Cancelation of Non-Renewed Trademarks:

 

On February 25, 2024, the Director of the Libyan Trademarks Office has issued an official decision No. (335) of 2024 to cancel all published trademarks that have not been renewed within the legal renewal deadlines described in Article 1257 of the Commercial Activity Law No. 23 of 2010 which stipulates the followings:

 

  • The protection period of a registered trademark shall be ten years, renewable for an identical period or periods upon request of its owner and every time within the last year of the protection period.
  • The owner of the mark may request a renewal within six months commencing from the date of expiry of protection thereof, the trademark office shall ex officio cancel the trademark.
  • A trademark shall be re-registered in favor in of its owner exclusively within three years from the date of the cancellation according to the prescribed conditions and same procedure of registration.

 

In this respect, it should be noted that the decision targets the trademarks published before 2021 (with trademark numbers below 22100) duly noting that no trademarks were published in the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Meanwhile, this decision was established on the ground that published trademarks are virtually considered as registered and they should be renewed before the expiry of the 10 years protection period, even if no registration certificate was issued. Trademarks published in 2024 are excluded from this cancellation.

 

The decision was put in force with immediate effect as of its issuance date.

 

Saudi Arabia: Extending the Protection Duration of Industrial Designs to Fifteen Years

 

In line with the amended patents, industrial designs, integrated circuits and plant varieties law No. 197 dated Sep. 19, 2023 issued by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), the validity of industrial designs has been extended from ten (10) years to fifteen (15) years. Currently, the 11th annuity fees for active designs filed in 2013 must be settled before May 23, 2024, to benefit from the extension of the protection period.

 

West Bank: Trademarks Office has Resumed its Operations:

 

in follow up to the earlier decrees issued by the Palestinian Authorities declaring the state of emergency due to the ongoing war in Gaza, and based on which all legal deadlines were frozen until further notice, we kindly inform you that the Trademarks office in the west Bank has resumed its normal operation as from 07 January 2024 and that all legal deadlines thenceforth are to be complied with.

 

Should you have any questions, or require any additional information, please contact us at info@jahcoip.com