Designs and Models

– Industrial Property Rights Law, enforced by Implementing Regulations issued by Royal Decree No. 67/2008 dated May 12, 2008, published in the Official Gazette No. 863, dated May 17, 2008 (superseding Royal Decree No. 39/2000 now abandoned).

Membership in International Conventions

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since February 19, 1997.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since July 14, 1999.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since November 9, 2000.
– Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, Geneva Act, since March 4, 2009.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since January 30, 2012.

Protection

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney, duly legalized up to the Consulate of the Sultanate of Oman, or in absence, by the Consulate of any Arab country;
2. A simple copy of the Certificate of Incorporation or an extract from the Commercial Register;
3. Description of the design and 5 samples.

Electronic filing: not available. 

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures). Scanned copies of signed documents are accepted, however, the original must be sent at a later date.

Novelty requirements: absolute.

Series applications: up to one hundred designs may be contained in one application if they belong to the same class of International Design Classification.

Examination: as to form and novelty.

Delivery of document: the certificate of grant is issued in paper format only.

Duration of protection: maximum fifteen years. The registration of an industrial design shall be for a period of five years from the filing date of the application for registration, renewable.

Renewal: if the owner so requests, according to the Regulations, and upon the payment of the prescribed fee, the registration shall be renewed for two further consecutive periods of five years. A period of grace of six months shall be allowed for the late payment of the renewal fee on payment of the prescribed surcharge, otherwise the registered industrial design shall lapse.

Restoration: there shall be no restoration of lapsed registered industrial designs.