The Sultanate of Oman adopted the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Patent Law as the Patent Law of the country by a Ministerial Decision No. 219/93 dated September 29, 1993. The GCC Patent Law has been effective since October 3, 1998, when the Patent Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, began accepting applications (see article covering the “Gulf Cooperation Council“).

– 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 previous Royal Decree No. 82/2000, now abandoned).

– 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.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since October 26, 2001.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since November 9, 2000.
– The Sultanate of Oman is a member of the Patent Regulation of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
– Patent Law Treaty, since October 16, 2007.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, since October 16, 2007.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since January 30, 2012.

Applicant: the inventor or his/her assignee. For inventions made by an employee in the performance of his/her task, or in respect of which the employer can prove that they would not have been made without making use of the facilities, means or data made available to the inventor due to the nature of the employment, the law provides that the invention will be deemed the property of the employer, provided that the employee will be entitled to an equitable compensation.

Patentability: an invention under the new law may be patented if it is new, involves an inventive step (i.e. is not obvious), and is susceptible of industrial application.

Not patentable under the new law: (1) scientific theories, mathematical methods, and methods for performing mental acts or playing games; (2) computer software; (3) plant or animal varieties and biological processes for the production of plant or animal varieties or species, with the exception of microbiological processes and products; (4) methods for surgical or therapeutic treatment of the human or animal body and diagnostic methods practiced on the human or animal body; and (5) inventions that are contrary to morality or could adversely influence the national security, or that are contrary to public order or to the rules of the Islamic Sharia.

Chemical compositions and pharmaceuticals: may be patentable.

Software-related inventions: computer programs as such cannot be patented. Computer software may be protected by copyright under the Copyright Law of 2000, issued by Sultanic Decree No. 39/2000.

Semiconductors: are not patentable. The Law on the Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuits of 2000, issued by Sultanic Decree No. 41/2000, providing for protection of topographies of semiconductor products, has already been adopted, and will become operative once its implementing regulations (which are at present under preparation) will have come into force.

Novelty: absolute novelty applies. An invention is not patentable if the claimed subject matter was disclosed before the date of filing; no grace period.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney executed in the name of the applicant, duly notarized and legalized up to the Consulate of the Sultanate of Oman, or in absence by the Consulate of any Arab country;
2. Deed of assignment executed by the inventor(s), assigning their patent rights to the applicant, notarized and legalized up to the Omani Consulate, or in absence by the Consulate of any Arab country;
3. A simple copy of the Certificate of Incorporation of the applicant’s company or an extract of its entry in the Commercial Register or a certificate of good standing including all relevant information;
4. 2 copies of the specification in English and Arabic prepared strictly in the following order:
(i) The abstract, which should include inventor’s name, applicant’s name, technical field of the invention, summary description of the invention, brief description of the drawings, if any (not exceeding one page – 200 words to be published in the Official Gazette);
(ii) Full description of the invention;
(iii) Claims;
(iv) Drawings, if any;
5. For the purpose of publication in the Official Gazette, a brief description of the invention and the new claims whose protection is sought in about 200 words. It should be independent of the application and it should comprise the following:
(a) The name of the inventor and the applicant if the applicant is not the inventor and the addresses of both of them;
(b) A summary of the specification of the invention, the claims whose protection is sought and any illustrative drawing associated with it. The said summary must indicate the technical or scientific field of the invention and give a clear idea of the technical problem, the essence of its solution and the main uses of the invention;
6. A certified copy of the home application or registration or a certified priority document, if priority is to be claimed. (The patent number and first filing date have to be available upon filing).

Note: the documents in item 4 should be submitted to the Patent Office on the filing date of the application, while documents in items (1, 2, 3 and 5) can be submitted within three months (strictly non-extendible) from the filing date of the patent application.

Requirements under the new law (the application is to be submitted to the Registrar on Form No. 7): (a) name and address of the applicant, his nationality, and domicile; (b) where the applicant is the inventor, the request shall contain a statement to that effect, and, where he is not, it shall indicate each inventor’s name and address and be accompanied by a statement justifying the applicant’s right to the patent; (c) if the applicant is represented by an agent, the request shall so indicate and state the agent’s name and address; (d) the title of the invention shall be short (preferably from two to seven words) and precise.

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.

For a change of name or address:
1. An original or certified/notarized change of name/address document, along with a simple English translation;
2. Power of attorney in the new name or address, duly notarized and legalized up to the Omani Consulate, or in absence by the Consulate of any Arab country.

Examination: the details for the examination of patent applications are specified by the Implementing Regulations, which are now in force (2015) and the Omani Patent Office has started the examination/granting procedures.

Appeal: possible.

Divisional applications: permitted.

Conversion: a patent application may be converted into a utility model application, or vice versa.

Owner’s right: a patent shall confer on its owner the right to prevent third parties from exploiting the patented invention in Oman. The right of the patent owner is defined by the claims.

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

Duration of protection: a patent is valid for twenty years as of the international date of filing.

Annuities: yearly maintenance fees must now be paid on the first and each subsequent anniversary of the filing date. A period of grace of six months is allowed for the late payment of the annual fee on payment of the prescribed surcharge.

Restoration of lapsed patent: if an annual fee is not paid, the patent application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn or the patent shall lapse. The Registrar may restore the lapsed patent at any time before the end of a period of one year after the period in which the payment should have been made, if he is satisfied that the non-payment of fees was justifiable and that rights of third parties that may have arisen in the meantime are not unreasonably harmed.

Use: required. A patented invention must be sufficiently worked. Importation of the patent protected product does not justify non-working.

Opposition: provided for.

Licenses: it will be possible to grant contractual licenses under a patent. The licenses will have to be registered and its registration be published in order to be effective.

Compulsory licenses: provided for. In case a patent, without legitimate reasons has not been worked in a serious and effective manner during three years or longer from grant or that such working without legitimate reasons has been discontinued for two consecutive years or longer, the grant of compulsory licenses will be possible. The application shall be filed with the Registrar and shall be addressed to the Minister. Compulsory licenses may be granted if the owner of a patent refuses to grant a license under his/her patent under reasonable conditions, and thereby the establishing or development of commercial activities in Oman may be adversely affected. Compulsory licenses will be granted by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, and may only be granted if the person requesting it has previously tried to obtain a voluntary license under the patent and could not succeed in obtaining this within the prescribed reasonable period. Compulsory licenses will be non-exclusive, and will not imply for its grantee the right to import the patent protected product or to grant any sub-licenses to third parties.

Prior user rights: the new law provides for third party rights of prior use.

Infringement: the following acts, if committed without the consent of the owner of a patent are deemed infringement: (1) the manufacture, use, importation, sale or offering for sale of a patented product, use of a patented process or method; and (2) the use, importation, sale or offering for sale of a product directly obtained by a patented process or method.

Remedies: infringement actions will have to be brought before the competent court. It will also be possible to request precautionary seizure, and the court may require the person requesting the precautionary measure to furnish sufficient security. In case of such precautionary measure, the infringement action will have to be brought within eight days. The court may order the confiscation or destruction of infringing articles and of the means used for their production, and may order the closure of the enterprise of the infringer.

Penal provisions: deliberate infringement will be considered an offense that may be punished by a fine and/or imprisonment of up to two years. In case of recidivism, these penalties may be doubled.

Enforcement: provided for.

Regional patents: patent protection for Oman may be obtained in the form of a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) patent. A GCC patent extends at once to all GCC member States. No separate validation of a GCC patent is required in Oman. Filing authority: GCC patents are to be applied for and are granted by the Patent Office of the Gulf Cooperation Council at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A GCC patent can be obtained instead of a national patent, and not in addition to a national patent for the same invention (Refer to GCC chapter for full particulars).

International patent applications (PCT): the international application that designates Oman may apply for the grant of a patent or a utility model certificate. Receiving Office: Omani Patent Office. An international application filed with the Intellectual Property Department as receiving Office shall be filed in English and the prescribed transmittal fee shall be paid.

Filing requirements: the same as previously mentioned for the national patent filing.

Entry into national phase of international applications designating Oman: within 30 months from the priority date. A translation of the international application into the Arabic language is required and it has to be submitted with the filed application along with all other required documents as previously mentioned. Late submitting of the translated documents is allowed but subject to a late filing fee.

In the event that Oman is designated, the applicant must submit, before the expiry of 20 months from the priority date, the specifications in Arabic in accordance with the initial international filing (description, claims, abstract and drawings, if any) and, if it is the case, the amendments and the statement to which Article 19 of the PCT refers, accompanied by a document that identifies the essential elements of the international application, the designation of the inventors, and the proof of the payment of the due fee. The request for examination may be submitted within thirty-six months from the date of the international application or within sixty days from the entry into the national phase, whichever expires later.