FAQs
FAQs
What does the term "intellectual property" mean?
Intellectual property refers to creative works of thought, such as inventions, literary and art works, symbols, names, images and industrial models.
What is the role of the SAIP?
The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) is a body specialized in regulating the fields of intellectual property, protecting the rights of owners in various fields, and raising awareness about the importance of this domain and its relevance to the building of the State, enactment of laws and regulations, and conclusion of international agreements.
What does the Intellectual Property Information Center offer?
It offers searching databases of patents, trademarks, industrial designs and copyrights for published applications.
If the owner of the trade secret suffers harm as a result of violating the provisions of the Confidential Commercial Information Regulations, where should that person go?
Any person harmed as a result of violating the provisions of the Regulation on the Protection of Confidential Commercial Information may file a lawsuit before the competent judicial authority to claim compensation for damages sustained.
What is the international legal framework of trade secret protection?
According to Article 10bis of the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention), member States have to provide effective protection against unfair competition. However, the Paris Convention does not mention or define trade secrets beyond the general protection against any act contrary to honest commercial practices. While the conditions for trade secret protection vary from country to country, some general standards on trade secret law are found in Article 39 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). According to that Article, trade secret protection is available if the following conditions are met: • The information must be secret in the sense that it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration and assembly of its components, generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question; • It must have commercial value because it is secret; and • It must have been subject to reasonable steps under the circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information, to keep it secret.
How are trade secrets protected?
Contrary to patents, trade secrets are protected without registration, that is, trade secrets require no procedural formalities for their protection. A trade secret can be protected for an unlimited period of time, unless it is discovered or legally acquired by others and disclosed to the public.
What is a trade secret?
Trade secrets are intellectual property (IP) rights on confidential information which may be sold or licensed. In general, to qualify as a trade secret the information is must be: 1. Known only to a limited group of persons who usually deal with the same type of transaction 2. Commercially value due to its confidentiality. 3. If the rightful owner takes reasonable measures to maintain its confidentiality under its current circumstances. The unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of such secret information in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices by others is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret protection.
What is the process for initiating a case?
The claimant fills out the designated forms without seeking damages since the Authority considers the public right only. As regards the private right, the claimant can bring the case directly to the competent court.
What is the process for filing a grievance?
A grievance must be filed through the system no later than 60 days after the Department’s decision is issued. Otherwise, the right to file a grievance is deemed waived.
Patents
An idea developed by the inventor results in a solution to a specific problem in technology.
It is an exclusive protection document granted to those who come up with an invention.
1- The invention must be new. 2- It must include an innovative move. 3- It must be industrially applicable.
The SAIP provides many services related to patents, including the following: Filing an application, making amendments, transfer of ownership, adding a power of attorney or assignment document, fast check path, registering a license.
The term of patent protection is twenty years from the date of filing the application.
• Discoveries, scientific theories, and mathematical methods. • Schemes, rules and methods for running business, purely practising mental activities, or playing a game. • Plants, animals, and processes - which are mostly biological - used for producing plants or animals with the exception of microorganisms, abiotic processes, and microbiological processes. • Methods employed for treating the human or animal body surgically or therapeutically, and disease diagnose methods applied to the human or animal body, with the exception of products that are used in any of these methods. • This includes computer software and any other works included in literary works.
Licenses
مدة سريان الترخيص سنة واحدة من تاريخ الإصدار وذلك بناءً على قواعد الترخيص لتقديم خدمات الملكية الفكرية الصادرة من الهيئة.
هو الشخص الذي يتمتع بالمؤهلات المتخصصة والشروط اللازمة لممارسة أي من الاعمال المنصوص عليها في رخصة ممارسة أنشطة الملكية الفكرية.
لتقديم الخدمات وممارسة الاعمال المتعلقة بالملكية الفكرية وتقديم طلبات الحماية نيابة عن الآخرين أمام الهيئة وذلك في جميع مجالات الملكية الفكرية.
Industrial designs
It is the combination of 2D lines or colors, or a 3D shape that gives a special look to any industrial product or a product of traditional crafts.
An industrial model certificate shall be granted in case the model is new and has features that distinguish it from well-known industrial models.
The SAIP provides many services related to industrial models, including the following: Filing an application, making amendments, transfer of ownership, adding a power of attorney or assignment document.
من الممكن التقدم بطلب تصميم صناعي لغير المقيمين في المملكة ولكن لابد من وجود ممثل (وكيل).
لمالك شهادة التصميم الصناعي الحق في رفع دعوى أمام المحاكم التجارية ضد أي شخص يتعدى على التصميم الصناعي باستغلاله لأغراض تجارية دون موافقته داخل المملكة، وذلك بصناعة، أو بيع، أو استيراد سلعة تتضمن، أو تجسد كليًّا أو جوهريًّا تصميما صناعيًّا منسوخًا.
عشر سنوات من تاريخ إيداع الطلب.
تسعين يوماً من تاريخ إرسال أي تقرير إلى مقدم الطلب.
1. إذا كان استغلالها تجاريًّا مخالفًا للشريعة الإسلامية أو مضراً بالبيئة والصحة. 2. إذا كان التصميم الصناعي يتضمن على علامات تجارية تعود إلى الآخرين أو أعلاماً أو شعارات رسمية. 3. إذا كان التصميم الصناعي لغرض وظيفي أو تقني. 4. إذا لم ينطبق تعريف التصميم الصناعي على الطلب المقدم أو لم يستوفي المتطلبات اللازمة للمنح.
من غير الممكن تقديم أكثر من تصميم صناعي في طلب واحد، وفي هذه الحالة يجب تقديم كل تصميم بطلب مستقل عن الآخر أو الاكتفاء بتقديم طلب تصميم واحد.
يقصد بالشخص الطبيعي هو الإنسان القادر على اكتساب الحقوق وتحمل الالتزامات ، لذلك لابد أن يكون المصمم شخص طبيعي.
1. لابد أن تكون الصور أو الرسومات واضحة وتبين السمات المميزة للتصميم الصناعي المطلوب حمايته، كما يمكن تقديم عدة صور للتصميم شريطة أن لا تتعدى سبعة أشكال كحد أقصى. 2. يمكن تقديم التصميم كصور فوتوغرافية أو رسومات ثنائية أو ثلاثية الأبعاد باللونين الأسود والأبيض أو الملونة. 3. يجب أن تكون خلفية الصور أو الرسومات موحدة بلون واحد دون إدخال أي عنصر أو إكسسوار أو زخرفة أخرى قد يؤدي تضمينها في العرض إلى إثارة الشكوك في الحماية المطلوبة. 4. يجب ألا تحتوي الرسومات أو الصور على أي كلمات أو رموز لغرض الوصف.
بصفة عامة تحمي "التصاميم الصناعية" شكل المنتج، بينما تحمي "براءة الاختراع" طريقة استخدام المنتج وعمله.
Integrated circuits
Means a product designed to perform an electronic function, in which elements - at least one of them is active - and all or some of the connections form an integrated form in or on a piece of material, whether in its final or intermediate format.
The SAIP provides many integrated circuit-related services, including the following: File an application, modify, transfer the ownership, add a power of attorney or waiver document, add or cancel an agent.
The design certificate protection period is 10 years as of the date on which an application is filed or from the date on which its commercial use is commenced anywhere in the world. In all cases, the protection period shall not exceed 15 years from the date on which the design is developed.
It is the 3D arrangement of integrated circuit elements - provided that at least one of these elements is active for all or some of the connections or the 3D order of dimensions developed for an integrated circuit for manufacturing purposes.
Plant varieties
A botanical set of a single botanical classification, of the lowest known classes, which can be determined by expressing the characteristics generated from a particular genetic structure or a certain set of genetic structures, and can be distinguished from any other botanical set by expressing at least one of the mentioned characteristics, considering it a unit for its ability to reproduce without change.
Plant Patent: An exclusive right granted by the Authority to the plant variety; thereby, the owner enjoys the protection prescribed under the Law and its Executive Regulations.
The plant variety must be new, distinct, uniform, stable, and named.
The SAIP provides many plant variety-related services, including the following: File an application, amend the application, transfer the ownership, add a power of attorney or waiver document, request an extension of time.
The term of plant patent protection is 20 years as of the date on which the application is filed, and 25 years for trees and vines.
Trademark
Means a distinctive mark used for the purpose of distinguishing the source of products or services.
Trademarks include everything that takes a distinctive form, such as names, words, signatures, letters, symbols, numbers, addresses, seals, drawings, pictures, inscriptions, packaging, graphic elements, shapes, colors, combinations of colors, any sign or group of signs or a combination thereof.
The SAIP provides many services related to trademarks, including the following: Trademark registration, renewal, modification, transfer of ownership, license application or cancellation, mortgage, appeal.
Extendable ten years.
Copyright
An author is the person who created the workbook in case his name is printed on it unless there is evidence to the contrary. In case his/her name is not mentioned on the workbook or a pseudonym is mentioned, the publisher whose name appears on workbook ork shall act as his/her representative. The people involved in creating audio and video works are deemed authors, such as script authors, screenwriters, dialogue writers, and directors.
Owner is the author unless release it to another person or entity without contract between them
Means a privilege that grants authors the exclusive right to accept or reject the use of a creative work such as literary, audio, visual or artistic work, and is limited to a specific period. Under copyright, an author can generate economic income for new creative activities in addition to being protected against unauthorized use of his/her work.
- Means financial rights (having a certain term of protection according to the copyright law). - The right to print and publish the work. - The right to modify or translate the work into other languages. - All forms of material exploitation of the work, such as licensing or leasing the work to third parties. - Moral rights (perpetual rights). - The author's right to attribute the workbook to himself/herself. - The right to object to any violation against the work. - The author's right to publish his/her work. - The author's right to modify his/her work. - The author's right to withdraw the workbook from circulation.
It refers to a set of rights granted to some people or organizations that help make the workbook available to the public.
The SAIP provides the following copyright-related services: １- To register a new work. ２- To modify a work. ３- To dispose of a work.
First: 1. Protection of work for an author is provided during their lifetime and for 50 years after the author's death. 2. The copyright period for joint works shall be computed from the date of the death of the last surviving author. 3. The copyright period for works in which the author is a corporate entity, or if his name is unknown, shall be 50 years from the date of the work's first publication. If the author's name becomes known before the end of the50 year period, the duration of copyright shall be the period specified in paragraph (1) of this Article. 4. If the work consists of several parts or volumes, published separately or over a period of time, each part or volume shall be considered an independent work for the computation of its copyright period. 5. The copyright period for audio works, audio-visual works, films, collective works, and computer programs shall be 50 years from the date of the first show or publication of the work, regardless of republication. 6. The copyright period for applied artworks (handcrafted or manufactured)and photographs shall be 25 years from publication. Computation of the period starts in this case, on the date of the work's first publication, regardless of republication. Second: 1. The copyright period for broadcasting organizations shall be 20 years from the date of the first transmission of programs or broadcast materials. 2. The copyright period for the producers of audio recordings and performers shall be 50 years from the date of performance or its first recording, as the case may be.
- Laws, regulations, court judgements and the like. - Ideas, procedures, work methods, concepts of mathematical sciences - abstract facts - daily news published by newspapers and magazines.
Copyright works are protected under the Copyright Protection Law. Therefore, a work so protected may not be used without the copyright holder's permission.