Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) Office in the West Bank announced on April 27, 2005, that the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy is currently in the process of setting up a mechanism to unify the registers of trademarks and other registers of industrial property rights (IPRs) in the West Bank and Gaza.
This move is seriously being addressed at the Ministry, and the relevant ministerial decisions are expected to be issued next month.
This mechanism will be applied as follows:
The Jordanian laws concerning industrial property, which are now applied in the West Bank (the 1952 Trademark Law No. 33 and the 1953 Patents and Industrial Designs Law No. 22) are to be extended to Gaza.
The decision of extending the Jordanian laws to Gaza is expected to be made during one of the upcoming Council of Ministers’ sessions, which is expected to take place within two weeks.
The two trademark registers (West Bank and Gaza’s) will be merged into one, and it will administratively and organizationally be affiliate with the ministry.
The official fees will be unified; the same official fees imposed in the West Bank will be applied to Gaza Strip.
The registration of trademarks, patents, and industrial designs will take place at the Ministry’s headquarters in Ramallah, noting that the registration in Gaza will continue for a while.
For further information, please contact AGIP's office in the West Bank at the following address:
Green Tower Building, Al-Nuzha Street,
Near Ramallah Public Library
PO Box: 3800 Al-Bireh,
Ramallah, The West Bank
Tel: (972-2 or 970-2) 298 9401
Fax: (972-2 or 970-2) 298 8150
E-mail: agip.westbank@tagi.com
Contact: Mr. Ma'an Nasser