Qatar has become the fifth Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country to implement the GCC Trade Marks Law (the TM law) marking a further significant development for trade mark practice and cooperation in the region. The provisions of Ministerial Decree No 56 of 2023 were published in the Qatar Official Gazette dated 9 July 2023 (along with the implementing regulations) and are aimed at streamlining the processes for protecting and maintain trade mark registrations in Qatar. The regulation comes into effect on 10 August 2023, so it is advisable to pay any outstanding official fees where possible now as there are some significant increases.

The TM law was negotiated by all six GCC member states (Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE) over many years and then finally published in 2013. However, it can only come into force in the countries which have announced and published it on a national level (along with national implementing regulations). The UAE is now the only GCC country not to adopt it and is unlikely to do so in its current form given that a new Federal UAE TM Law was introduced and came into effect in January 2022. While it adopts many of the provisions of the GCC TM Law it does have some differences and expansions, please see here.

The TM law is not a unifying law like for instance the GCC Patent law, in that brand owners will still need to protect trade marks in each GCC member state of interest that has adopted it, and each state still has a lot of discretion regarding its interpretation and the practical implications. However, it seeks to bring about further practice harmonisation in registration and enforcement practices across the region.

The Qatari national law was last updated by Law No 9 of 2002 so the adoption to the TM law will have some immediate and significant practice changes (including changes to official fees) to be aware of including:

• The period for examination should be 90 days from filing (it may take some time and some administrative re-organisation to become effective).
• Where an application is accepted with conditions an Applicant has 60 days to appeal the decision or 90 days to conform with the condition or the application will be forfeited. 
• Where an application is rejected, an Applicant has 60-days the date of notification to appeal, or the application will be forfeited.
• Where an acceptance decision is issued an Applicant has 30 days from notification to pay the publication fees or the application will be forfeited.
• The opposition period has been reduced from 4 months to 60 days.

Some of the notable official fee increases are noted below:

These increases may not be welcome news for many brand owners looking to expand or just maintain trade mark protection in this otherwise expensive region. However, it will be somewhat good news if it results in more effective procedures and a reduction in the currently lengthy time periods for examination, publication, and the processing of registration certificates for enforcement purposes.

TAGS

• Qatar
• GCC
• Gulf Cooperation Council
• Trade Marks