The Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries issued the unified Patent Law in December 1992 and the implementing regulations in 1996. The office designated to fulfill the requirements of the law was opened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which accepted the filing of applications as of October 3, 1998. In November 1999 the GCC proposed further amendment to the law. The law in its amended version became effective on August 16, 2000.
Protection under the GCC patent system extends to the six member countries of the GCC, namely: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.
Once an application for a patent is filed with the GCC Patent Office, it will be examined with respect to the compliance of the applicant with the formalities. If executed satisfactorily, the application receives a filing number and the filing date is secured. Absolute universal novelty is stipulated by the GCC Patent Law. However, disclosure of the invention anywhere, expressed in writing, orally, by use, or in any other way, before the relevant date of filing of the patent application or the priority date of validity claimed in respect thereof, shall not be considered as a part of the prior art, if it occurred due to arbitrary actions of others against the applicant or his predecessor or as a result thereof.
The patentee may claim priority of a previous application filed in another country or a regional application within 12 months of the original filing.
A patent is valid for twenty years from the date of filing of the application provided that maintenence annuities are paid. A patent is subject to annuity payments at the beginning of each year starting from the year following the filing date . Late payment maybe possible within 90 days but against an additional fee. So far no patents have been granted by the GCC Patent Office, hence the patent annuities system has not started yet.
The patentee shall make sufficient exploitation of the invention covered by the patent in the GCC member states within three years from the date of granting. Should the prescribed grace period lapse without the patent being sufficiently exploited, the GCC Patent Office Board of Directors may grant a compulsory license according to certain conditions.
The requirements for filing a patent application wih the GCC Patent Office are the following:
The GCC system is uniquely for patents; it does not cover the filing and protection of trademarks.