MANAMA - The Bahraini Industrial Property Office started on June 7, 2007, accepting applications claiming priority for trademarks and industrial designs in Bahrain, according to official sources.
A certified copy of the priority application is to be filed within six months from the filing date of the foreign application, in case of claiming priority.
As per the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, if an application for the registration of a trademark or an industrial design has been filed at any contracting state of the Convention, the applicant or his successor may, within a period of six months as of the filing date, apply for protection in Bahrain with respect to the same trademark or industrial design. In other words, such application will have priority over applications which may have been filed in Bahrain during the said period of time by other persons for the same trademark or industrial design.
Although Bahrain has been a member of the Paris Convention since October 29, 1997, claiming priority was not possible until the above-mentioned date.