This Law aims to provide full protection - within the Kingdom - for inventions, layout designs of integrated circuits, plant varieties, and industrial designs.

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

The Authority: Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property.

Subject of Protection: It may be an invention, a layout design of an integrated circuit, a plant variety, or an industrial model.

Protection Document: The document granted by the Debtor for a subject of protection, which may be a patent, a design certificate, a plant patent, or an industrial model certificate.

Invention: An idea reached by the inventor, resulting in a solution to a specific problem in the field of technology.

Integrated Circuit: A product intended to perform an electronic function, in which the elements – at least one of which is active – and all connections, or some of them, form an integrated shape in a piece of material or on it, whether in its final or intermediate form.

Design: The three-dimensional arrangement of elements of an integrated circuit – provided that at least one of those elements is active – and all connections, or some of them, or the three-dimensional arrangement prepared for an integrated circuit for manufacturing purposes.

Plant Variety: A plant group of a single plant variety, from the lowest known grades, which – regardless of whether it meets the granting conditions – can be identified by expressing the characteristics resulting from a specific genetic composition or a certain group of genetic compositions, and distinguishing it from any other plant group by expressing at least one of the mentioned characteristics, and considering it a unit in view of its ability to reproduce unchanged.

Plant Breeder: The person who has bred, discovered, or developed a new plant variety.

Industrial Model: An assembly of two-dimensional lines or colors, or a three-dimensional shape that gives any industrial product or product from traditional crafts a special appearance, provided that it is not solely for functional or technical purposes, including textile designs.

Compulsory License: Permission for others to exploit a subject of protection, without the consent of the owner of the protection document, in accordance with the provisions stipulated in this Law.

Contractual License: A contract by which the owner of the protection document grants another party some or all of his rights to exploit that document for a specified period in exchange for a specified fee.

Bulletin: A publication issued by the Authority regarding all matters related to subjects of protection, in accordance with the provisions of this Law and its Implementing Regulation.

The Committee: The committee stipulated in Article 35 of this Law.

The Schedule: The schedule attached to this Law that clarifies the financial counterpart for the services provided by the Authority, in application of the provisions of this Law.

Applicant: The person registered in the Authority's records as the one requesting the protection document.

Regulation: The Implementing Regulation of this Law.

Hague Agreement: The Geneva document of the Hague Agreement concerning the international registration of industrial designs and models of the year (1999 AD).

The Organization: The World Intellectual Property Organization.

The Authority shall have the power to apply the provisions of this Law and its Implementing Regulations.

A. The protection document shall not be granted if its commercial exploitation violates Sharia.

B. The protection document shall not be granted if its commercial exploitation is harmful to life or harmful to the health of humans, animals, or plants, or is substantially harmful to the environment.

A. The protection document shall be the personal right of the person in whose name it was issued. This right shall be transferred by inheritance, as well as with or without consideration.

B. If the subject matter of protection is a joint work of several persons, they shall be equally entitled to the right, unless they have agreed otherwise.

C. No one shall be deemed a partner unless he contributes to the subject matter of protection, and his efforts are only confined to assistance in its execution.

D. If more than one person independently develops the same subject matter of protection, the protection document shall be granted to the first applicant.

E. The person who develops the subject matter of protection shall have the right to state his name in that capacity in the protection document.

A. The employer shall be the owner of the protection document, unless the work contract stipulates otherwise, where its subject matter results from the execution of a contract, or an obligation providing for exerting efforts to develop it, or if the employer proves that the employee would not have developed the subject matter of the protection had he not used the facilities, means, or data made available through his employment.

B. The previous provision shall be without prejudice to the employee’s right to receive a special award to be agreed upon with the consent of both parties, or assessed by the Committee in light of the different circumstances of the employment contract, and the economic importance of the subject matter of the protection. Any special agreement depriving the employee of this right shall be null and void.

C. An application for a protection document filed by an employee within two years from the date of termination of employment shall be deemed as if submitted during employment.

D. The previous provisions shall apply to government employees.

E. If the subject matter of protection relates to national security, it shall be governed by the provisions stipulated in the Implementing Regulations.

If the subject matter claimed in the application or in the protection document is derived from a subject matter owned by a person other than the applicant or the owner of the protection document, then this person may request the Committee to transfer the ownership of the application or protection document to him. The case for the transfer application shall not be heard after the lapse of five years of granting the protection unless bad faith on the part of the applicant is established.

The application for granting a protection document shall be submitted to the Authority in the prescribed form. The Regulations shall specify the information and documents required to be enclosed with the application. If the applicant is not the party which developed the subject matter of protection, his name must be stated and the document proving the transfer of title of the patented subject matter to him must be enclosed, and the Authority may, in this case, send a copy of these documents to the party which developed the subject matter of protection. After satisfying the requirements and paying the specified fee, the application shall be registered.

The applicant may introduce the amendments he deems fit in the application, provided that these amendments shall not introduce any change to what was disclosed in the original application.