SANA'A - Yemen’s Minister of Trade and Industry Dr. Yahya Al-Mutawakel issued Ministerial Decision No. 256 of 2007 in respect of promulgating the regulations implementing the patent provisions of the Yemeni Intellectual Property Law No. 19 of 1994.
The regulations were published in the ‘Altegara Gazette’/August 2007 edition, but they have not yet entered into force.
In view of the above, the Patent Office in Yemen is still only accepting filing of patent applications; no further actions such as examination, publication, granting, or payment of annuities are applicable yet.
Since the issuance of Law No. 19 of 1994, the Patent Office in Yemen has only been accepting filing of patent applications which were held in abeyance pending the issuance of the implementing regulations.
The salient features of the regulations are as follows: patent applications are examined as to form, novelty, and industrial applicability; a patent shall be protected for 15 years from the date of filing the patent application; and an opposition to the patent application may be filed within 6 months from the publication date.
Any further developments in this respect will be reported to you in due course.