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Patents
Subject matter
Patents are governed by Law No.4 of 1962 as amended by Law No
3 of 2001 (the “Patent Law”). Patents are awarded for any new
invention that can be exploited for industrial purposes, whether
related to new industrial products or by developed industrial
methods or techniques or by new applications of existing industrial
methods or techniques. Amendments to the Patent law have been
introduced by Law No. 3 for the year 2001 to comply with the requirement
of Annex 1C of the WTO Treaty (the “TRIPPS Agreement”). The new
law proposes to overcome these defects, to be in line with the
TRIPPS Agreement. The amended version of the law permits the patenting
of chemical inventions related to foodstuffs, medicinal drugs
or pharmaceutical compositions.
In order to further strengthen the law, and prevent
piracy of diskettes, DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs, etc, “Integrated Circuits”
have been introduced in Part II of the existing Patent Law. A
new chapter has also been introduced in Chapter VI of the Patent
Law pertaining to “Patents for Models” for protection of technical
solutions, in any shape or form for equipment, tools, parts etc.
used in commercial applications.
Procedure, time and costs
Patent
In order to register a patent, the following
documents are required to be submitted along with the patent application:
- A power of attorney in favour of their attorney in Kuwait
signed by the owners of the patent and legalized by a Notary
Public, the State Department or the Foreign Ministry and the
Embassy of Kuwait.
- Original patent documents together with drawings of the patent,
forming subject matter of registration.
- If the owners of the invention has/have assigned the patent,
then please provide us with the deed of assignment, duly executed
and authenticated, in the same manner as prescribed for the
power of attorney.
- Original certificate of registration of the patent in the
country of origin duly authenticated, in the same manner as
described above.
- A summary (about ½ page) of the invention forming subject
matte of the patent.
Industrial Design
The following documents are required to be attached
to an application for registration of an industrial design:
- A power of attorney in favour of their attorney in Kuwait
signed by the owners of the patent and legalized by a Notary
Public, the State Department or the Foreign Ministry and the
Embassy of Kuwait.
- Two copies of every design or model; sample of the product
for which the design is destined may be presented if possible
in the prescribed manner.
- Where the applicant is a company or body corporate, copy of
its registration certificate and articles of association is
required.
Under the prevailing practices of patent
and industrial design registration in Kuwait the only procedure
required is the filing of the application with the Department
of Trademarks and Patents at the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Period of Protection and Remedies for Infringement
Under the new law, the period of patent protection
has been extended to twenty years for all patents. The new law
also facilitates renewal for every four-year period. For patents
registered in other countries the validity period for such patent
in Kuwait shall be the remaining unexplored period in the country
of registration.
Article 46 of the Patent Law provides that for
acts amounting to infringement of a Patent the offending party
shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one
year or K.D 5,000/- fine or both.
Assignment of Patents
Article 27 of the Patent Law permits assignment
of patents. It provides that assignment shall constitute evidence
vis-à-vis third parties once the assignment has been effected
in the patents register. The requirements for assignment of patent
include, submission of an application for assignment along with
supporting documentation which includes the following:
- Documentation evidencing the assignment of patent. The document
is required to be duly legalized by a Notary Public, the State
Department or the Foreign Ministry and the Embassy of Kuwait.
- Certified copies of the certificate of registration of the
patent from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
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