The meanings of the following words and phrases wherever they appear in this Regulation are as defined below unless the context requires otherwise:

The Authority: Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property.

The Law: The Law on Patents and Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs.
The Regulation: The Implementing Regulation of the Law on Patents and Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs.
Subject of Protection: It may be either an invention, a layout design of an integrated circuit, a plant variety, or an industrial design.
Document of Protection: It may be a patent, a design certificate, a plant patent, or an industrial design certificate.
The Committee: The committee stipulated in Article 35 of the Law.
Paris Union: The union established under Article 1 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which consists of the member states of the Convention.
The Treaty: The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) concluded in Washington on June 19, 1970, which was approved by Royal Decree No. M/63 dated 28/12/1430H regarding the accession of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and subsequent amendments.

International Application: A patent application submitted (deposited) under the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, to which the provisions of Chapter Eleven of this Regulation apply.
National Phase: The transformation of the international application into a national application after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been designated for protection and has received the application in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

• The Directorate shall implement the provisions of the Law and the Regulations. It shall,in particular, perform the following:

  • 1. Receive and process protection applications and prepare protection documents.

  • 2. Propose issuance of and amendments to forms necessary to discharge its duties.

  • 3. Issue decisions granting protection documents and publish information related thereto.

  • 4. Use information technology and access national and international databases when processing protection applications and documents.

  • 5. Propose necessary amendments to the provisions of the Law and the Regulations.

  • 6. Propose regulations for licensing agents and lawyers to represent clients before the Directorate.

1- All correspondence with the Authority must be addressed to the "Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property" according to the postal address specified by the Authority, or any other means accepted by it.
2- All correspondence with the Authority must be in writing in a manner accepted by the Authority, and the personal presence of the applicant or the agent is not required.
3- Any correspondence with the Authority regarding claims or protection documents must refer to the claim or document number, and any correspondence that does not comply with this will not be dealt with by the Authority.
4- The Authority receives electronically or by any other means accepted by it claims for the granting of protection documents and any documents or correspondence related to them.
5- The Authority delivers notifications and correspondence regarding protection claims and protection documents manually, electronically, or by registered mail, and all correspondence issued by the Authority to the applicant or the agent is sent to the address registered with the Authority, and notifications in this manner are considered to produce their legal effects.
6- The day of sending notifications is not counted within the given deadline, and any deadline that ends on weekends or official holidays in the Kingdom is extended to the first working day following those holidays.

• 1. The Directorate shall maintain records for protection applications and documents, where the main data of the protection applications and documents and any amendments thereto are recorded.

• 2. Published protection applications shall be made available to the public. 3. Copies of the applications referred to in paragraph 2 may be obtained for a fee.

• 4. Unpublished protection applications shall remain confidential.

• 5. The Directorate shall keep the originals of the applications or copies thereof for a period of five years from the date of withdrawal, forfeiture or rejection of the application, or forfeiture of the right to the protection document or expiration of its term.

1- The financial dues established by the Law and its Implementing Regulation shall be paid through the payment system or by any other method determined by the Authority.
2- The Authority shall, based on a request submitted to it, refund any amounts paid by mistake or paid in excess of the financial consideration after verifying that.

• 1. The Directorate shall periodically publish in Arabic a Gazette containing all information required to be published by the Law. The Gazette may include information on protection and laws related thereto, including amendments, notices and news. If necessary, it may contain an English translation of some information.

• 2. The Gazette shall be issued with serial numbers, carrying both Hijri and Gregorian calendar dates, and the Directorate shall make it available on the Internet and shall maintain a number of copies thereof.

• 3. The Directorate may publish the following in paper or on the Internet:

  • a) Applications of patents and plant patents including the specifications as filed, as well as search and examination reports.

  • b) Protection documents including the specification.

  • c) Texts of final decisions issued by the Committee.

• 4. The Directorate may exchange its publications and statements with patent offices and with others.

• The Gazette shall contain at least the following:

  • 1. First page of the application for patents and plant

  • 2. First page of granted protection documents.

  • 3. A list of protection applications and documents which have been amended or whose ownership has been changed or transferred.

  • 4. A list of forfeited, rejected or withdrawn protection applications and documents.

  • 5. A list of the denominations of plant varieties included in the applications for plant patents and the new denominations of plant varieties.

  • 6. A list of abandoned protection documents.

  • 7. Decisions of compulsory licenses, amendments, withdrawals, transfer and abandonment thereof. patents.

• 1- Applications for the granting of protection documents must be submitted using the prepared electronic forms or by any other method accepted by the authority, and must be in Arabic. Applications may be submitted in English, provided that the authority is supplied with a certified translation within three months from the date of submission, and the translation must be clear. The application forms must include all required data and answer all inquiries.

• 2- A- The date of deposit for a patent application is the date of receipt of the application, provided it meets at least the following:

  • 1- Completion of the forms prepared for submitting a patent application.

  • 2- The name of the applicant, their status, and address.

  • 3- Submission of a description of the invention.

  • 4- Payment of the deposit fee.

• B- The applicant must fulfill the requirements stated in this article and Articles 9 to 17 of the regulation within two months from the date of deposit (receipt), provided that the description of the invention does not exceed what was disclosed during the application deposit.

• C- If the requirements stated in paragraph (B) are met but the description of the invention exceeds what was disclosed during the deposit, then the date of deposit is the date of fulfilling the requirements. D- If the applicant does not meet the requirements stated in paragraph (B) within the specified period, the application shall be considered as if it never existed.

• 3- The date of deposit for an application for a certificate of integrated circuit layout design, a plant patent application, and an industrial design certificate application is the date of receipt of the protection application, provided it meets all the requirements stated in this article and Articles 18 to 29 according to each subject of protection, after payment of the deposit fee.

• 4- If the applicant resides outside the Kingdom, a licensed agent within the Kingdom must be designated.