Kuwait introduced a new copyright law and amended the existing trademark, patent and design laws which were published in the official gazette number 414 dated June 6, 1999. Below are the highlights.
Trademarks:
-Adds figurative elements, color combinations, sound marks, and olfactory marks to the definition of trademarks.
-Stresses the non-registrability of confusion causing trademarks to the consumers.
-Expands the renewal grace period from three to six months after expiration of the trademark registration.
-Cancels the provision that a lapsed trademark registration can only be refiled in the name of a third party after three years of cancellation
Patents of invention and Industrial Designs:
-Extends the protection period for patents from 15 to 20 years.
-Registers in Kuwait patents registered in other countries for their remaining validity periods.
-Extends the protection for models and industrial designs from 5 years to 10 years extensible for another 5 years.
-Grants protection for integrated circuits for 10 years extensible by another 5-year period.
-Increases the penalties of imprisonment and fine.
-Provides that the patents whose annuity payments are not made in time lapse irrevocably.
Copyrights:
-Protects all original copyright works including computer software and data bases as well as derivative works.
-Provides for a general protection period for the lifetime of the author plus 50 years after his death.
-Grants the author the right of publication, economic right and moral rights.
-Permits fair use provisions which do not conflict with the normal exploitation of the economic rights.
-Gives performers and broadcasting organizations economic right.
-Passes on the economic rights to the heir after the death of the copyright holder.
-Stipulates compulsory publication without prejudice to the copyright holder.
-Provides for a 50-year protection for works of corporate bodies, published after the author's death, anonymously or pseudonymously, and cinematographic, photographic, applied-art, software and databases works, as well as performers and broadcasting organizations.
-Provides for preliminary injunctions, right to damages, civil and criminal penalties in cases of copyright infringement.
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