Algeria: Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property Bulletin, April 1999

LEBANON:
PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW COPYRIGHT LAW.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY COMMITTEE

JORDAN:
JOINS THE BERNE CONVENTION
U. S. COMPUTER SHOW HIGHLIGHTS URGENCY OF ENACTING IPR LAWS

QATAR:
CRACKING DOWN ON PIRATED SOFTWARE

SAUDI ARABIA:
AMENDS IP LAW IN CONFORMITY WITH TRIPS AGREEMENT

KUWAIT:
Q&A ON IP LAWS AND PRACTICES

IN BRIEF FORM OUR INTERNATIONAL OFFICE

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On March 17, 1999 the General assembly in the Lebanese Parliament approved the new proposed Copyright Law. The Law No. 75 was published in the Official Gazette No. 18 dated April 3, 1999 under title "Literary and Artistic Property" , and will come into affect 2 months from the publication date.

This new law complies with the TRIPs Agreements and other Conventions that Lebanon may enter in the future. We will be publishing a translation of the Law as published in the Official Gazette in our May Issue. Highlights of the law are:

• Computer software is protectable (Article 2).

• Initial publication dates calculated from the date of publication in Lebanon or in one of the countries party to the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention (Article 13).

• Exploitation of the works is subject to copyright protection (Article 17)

• Author's moral rights are preserved and transfer of ownership after death is defined (Article 22)

• Copies may be made for educational use (Article 25 & 32).

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Due to speedy developments in the field of intellectual property in Lebanon, especially the new conventions to which Lebanon will be a member, and in accordance with the suggestion of the Head of the Intellectual Property Protection Department, the Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade has formed a committee of intellectual property experts to review the current law and propose necessary amendments.

Mr.Ghandi Al-Halabi, a representative of AGIP in Lebanon is among the experts.

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Jordan has agreed to join the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in an endeavor to sponsor authors and other intellectual creators and to protect original works of art as well as to take all measures to stop brain drain.

The National Library Department at the Ministry of Culture drafted Law No. 14 for the Year 1998 (Law amending the Copyright Protection Law), to make the amended law compatible with the Berne Convention administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization.

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A two-day exhibition of U. S. computer and information technology has underlined the dire need for Jordan to press ahead with updating laws on intellectual property rights (IPR) to attract more foreign investment. Thirty-eight Jordanian dealers and distributors of American computer firms participated in the American Embassy's 7th Annual Computer Show.

Ironically, one of the participating companies in the exhibition is a local agency of a U.S. computer firm which sells pirate software copies alongside original ones. Jordan's failure to modernize IP laws is hindering its access to the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO).

The government , in the process of making its trademark and patent laws consistent with WTO agreements on intellectual property rights, expects Jordan to join the organization by the year 2000.

Several local lawyers, including one representing U. S. computer giant Microsoft, have recently sent letters to every computer and IT dealer in Jordan requesting that they not "preload" software on hard discs free of charge.

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Addressing a seminar on "Effective Enforcement of Copyright Laws", in Doha last month, Mr. Abdullah Qayed Al-Imadi, Head of the Copyright Bureau in Qatar, said that the raids which had been going on ever since May 1997 would be stepped up in "two-three months".

The raids on shops were being conducted with the help of police and some of the cases are in the court. Some others will let off with an oral warning. His department, Mr. Al-Imadi said, had taken several other measures too to prevent violation of intellectual property rights in Qatar. The Customs Department, for instance, had been asked to prevent the import of any unauthorized intellectual property material.

Qatar became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1996 and, being a developing country, had been given five years to implement the laws to make them conform to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).

Also in "two-three months", Qatar will accede to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, and to the Paris Convention on the Protection of Industrial Property Rights.

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Saudi Arabia is amending the trademark law to conform with the TRIPs agreement. See highlights of the amendments in the ABLE bulletin.

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Q: How long will it take to conduct a trademark search?
A: 7 working days.

Q: Does your country use the international classification?
A: Yes.

Q: Are there any goods or services for which the mark cannot be registered?
A: Beer, ale and porter in class 32 and all goods in class 33 since alcoholic goods are not registerable.

Q: Does the specification of goods in any class limit the protection to the specified goods, or does it give additional protection to the whole goods within the class?
A: Protection of all the goods in the same class.

Q: Can a trademark be registered in the name of more than one applicant ( i.e. joint application) ? If so, what are its requirements?
A: Yes, a power of attorney and a basic registration in the name of the co-appliants.

Q: Can an application be filed without its complete documents?
A: No.

Q: Can one application cover more than one class of goods/services?
A: No.

Q: May priority be claimed under the Paris Convention?
A: No.

Q: What is the term of protection of a trademark? and from what date is it calculated?
A: 10 years as from the filing date.

Q: Is marking compulsory?
A: No.

Q: If a trademark is not renewed in due time, and another company applies to register the same trademark, can the original owner oppose the application?
A: Yes. The lapsed trademark can be registered in the name of a new owner only after 3 years.

Q: If the trademark was filed incorrectly originally, what documentation would be required to amend the official register to show the correct details?
A: The correct home certificate, as amended in the home country, is necessary.

Q: Is use required before registration or for maintaining the registration in force?
AA: Not required before registration, but is required after registration.

Q: Is use of the trademark on one item sufficient to maintain protection of all the goods covered by the registration?
A: Yes.

Q: What are the types of use required?
A: Use of products bearing the registered mark in the Kuwaiti market.

Q: Can the assignment of an application be recorded?
A: Yes.

Q: Is recording a license agreement compulsory?
A: Not applicable.

Q: Can change of name, address, merger, assignment, license, etc., be recorded against pending applications?
A: No.

Q: Can an assignment be made with or without the goodwill? What monetary consideration is to be mentioned as the value of the assignment? Is there any tax based on the value mentioned?
A: With the goodwill. Nominal. No tax.

Q: Can the trademark application be opposed and what is the opposition period?
A: Yes, within 30 days from the 3rd publication.

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India became a signatory member to WTO in December 1994. In pursuance to being a signatory member to WTO, the Government has now passed a notification to allow a claim of priority of a corresponding trademark application filed in a foreign country. Such provisions are with immediate effect. However, for purposes of claiming priority, an application in the home country ought to be the first application. A certified copy of the application in the convention country is to be filed.

South Africa has become a full participating member of the PCT as of March 1999.

Prior actual use in the Philippines is no longer required as the basis for trademark or service mark applications. Intent to use can be the basis of the application. The applicant is, however, required to file a declaration of use, with evidence to that effect, within three years from the date of filing the application; otherwise the application will be rejected or, if the mark has in the meantime been registered, will be removed from the register.

Multiple-class applications are now permitted.

Notarization and legalization of trademark applications are no longer required.

The newly appointed officials of the Trademarks Registration Service, are now informing us that the republication of abbreviated Cautionary Notices which they used to insist thereupon every two years after registration or renewal is no more required by them. They are leaving such republications to the discretion of the Trademarks owners. And, that the only required publications of Cautionary Notices are those at the time of registrations and renewals.

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Arbitration has become an ideal way to solve commercial disputes away from the court system.

The Decree specified the system for reviewing lawsuits and arbitration requests before a trade dispute settlement committee. It applies in cases of absence of prior agreement to refer the dispute to arbitration or if the parties agree to refer it to arbitration after the dispute takes place. The decisions are final and not subject to appeal. Likewise, the Decree applies when the opposing parties are Omani entities.

The Decree deals with arbitration no matter what the relationship between the two parties and local or international nature of arbitration. The referral bases are either a provision or an agreement to settle a dispute through arbitration. The Decree states that the parties should agree on one or more arbitrators. If they do not agree, the number of arbitrators shall be three.

Likewise, the arbitrator shall not be a minor, placed under guardianship, deprived of civil rights due to a court sentence or bankrupt unless reinstated. The arbitrators must apply the rules agreed upon by the parties. If they do not reach an agreement, then the arbitration board may issue a decision on the rules. The decision must be issued during the time frames agreed upon by the two parties. If there is no such agreement, the verdict must be issued with 12 months as of starting the arbitration procedures.

Among the cases in which an arbitration decision is regarded as void are the following:

1. If there is no arbitration agreement, if the arbitration agreement is null or can be invalidated, or if the agreement period elapsed.

2. If one of the parties to the arbitration agreement was, at the time of its conclusion, legally incompetent under the law.

The arbitration decision is enforceable once it is given on a commercial dispute. None of the opposing parties may refer the dispute to the court or another arbitration board. It is obligatory to enforce the decision after ensuring that it does not conflict with a previous court decision on the dispute topic and does not contravene public order and that it was served on the losing party.

Under this Decree Oman joined the United Nations Agreement on Admitting and Implementing Foreign Arbitration Decisions signed in New York on June 10, 1958.

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The King of Jordan, His Majesty Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, has ratified the General Amnesty Draft Law, covering all the crimes which took place before March 18, 1999. The state of crime fell from all the classes of crimes falling in the scope of the amnesty and so did any penal lawsuit and penalties. The said law covers the crimes relating to trademark infringement under review before the courts but which took place before March 18, 1999. Trademark infringements are tried in courts in Jordan and have maximum penalties of two-year jail sentence, seizure and confiscation of all infringing goods.