The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has been viewed by all countries as a vital part to protecting intellectual property. This important aspect has urged a number of Arab countries to work towards the accession into PCT as they prepare their legal framework. Already Algeria, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates are parties to the PCT agreement. Many more countries are also interested to proceed.
In April 2001 the Omani Government issued the Sultanate Decree No. 37/2001 approving the submission of documents to WIPO for accession, thereby preparing for negotiations in this respect.
The Tunisian Government has also initiated such an action and is in the process of submitting the accession papers to WIPO. It is expected that the accession will be announced shortly.