Earlier this year, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) implemented a new trademark refusal procedure. Previously, upon receiving a refusal decision, applicants could either file an appeal within 60 days or amend their trademark applications within 10 days. The latter option is no longer available. If their applications are refused, applicants can now only appeal the refusal decision within a 60-day period, with no option of amending the trademark applications.

The 60-day appeal period is provided for in Article 13 of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Trademark Law, which Saudi Arabia adopted in 2016. The 10-day amendment period, which used to be available as an option on the SAIP portal, is not provided for in the GCC Trademark Law or its Implementing Regulations.

Applicants can amend their applications in earlier stages of the procedure. If an application does not pass the formal examination stage, SAIP will issue a request for the necessary amendments and/or submissions to be made within 90 days from the formal examination notice date. Upon compliance with the formal requirements, the application will proceed to the substantive examination stage. If an application does not pass substantive examination, SAIP will either issue a request for changes to be made within 90 days (this request can be challenged within 60 days), or it will refuse the application on absolute or relative grounds.

By: Sara Omran

For more information, please contact Sara Omran at our UAE office.