The Ministry of Information has declared on 21 April that a new Penal Code that has been reviewed by a panel of experts was adopted by the Consultative Council. The new code has imposed harsher pecuniary fines, which have doubled as well as prolonging both the terms of imprisonment and the closures of the infringing facility with the sole aim of deterring the infringers.
Ministry of Information tends to impose penalties that might reach imprisonment for a period not exceeding 6 months and a pecuniary fine reaching 100,000 Riyal on the IP infringers. Previously the penalties were restricted to fines not exceeding to 30,000 Riyals.
The Director of the General Directorate of Copyright indicated that the terms of protection have been extended in the new by-law according to the international agreements and the regular, exceptional, compulsory usages have been re-phrased in order to coincide with the exceptions laid down by the international agreements such as the Paris Convention.
However, the new penal code has been viewed as possibly increasing in the prices of some products being granted protection. It might also be accompanied by an unconstructive effect on the competition between largest foreign companies and local industrial firms. Nevertheless, many other analysts see this as a short-term difficulty that will be offset by the long-term benefits of having IP laws that will ease the KSA’s joining of the WTO.