Qatar to Accede to PCT
31-Jul-2011 DOHA - Qatar will become a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), a global protection treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as from August 3, 2011, according to a press release by Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP).
Well-informed sources at the Qatari Patent Office said they will need at least one year to arrange the procedure and the implementation of the national phase PCT applications in Qatar.
At this stage, patents could be protected in Qatar through filing of GCC Patent since GCC patents provide protection for all the member states of the GCC Countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia in addition to the United Arab Emirates. Some sort of protection can be obtained through the publication of cautionary notices at regular intervals in local newspapers.