Saudi Arabia Trademark Prosecution Updates

Saudi Arabia Trademark Prosecution Updates

This is to advise that the Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry has issued a Ministerial Decree under No. 1147 on 6 October 2012 with immediate effect. The main aspects of this change are as follows:

• The legal representative of the accepted trademark application must receive the Notice of Acceptance from Saudi Trademark Office (STMO) within 90 days;
• Publication must be made within 30 days from the date of receipt of the acceptance notification;
• Failing to fulfill the above 2 points regarding the acceptance will cause the application to lapse;
• Accepted applications are now published online on the website of the Ministry instead of Umm Al Qurra Gazette;
• After the expiration of the opposition period (90 days), registration fees must be paid within a period of maximum 9 months, otherwise the application will be cancelled; and
• In case of opposition, the claimant must notify the STMO to avoid issuance of a registration certificate while the decision still pending; previously it was not required to notify the STMO.