Industry Ministry, US Patent Office sign agreement

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce signed an agreement of understanding and cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, to apply the fast-track system for technical examination of patents (PPH).

The agreement was signed by Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, and Kathy Vidal, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office.

The minister emphasised that this agreement will further enhance the Kingdom’s patents and intellectual property sector.

He highlighted Bahrain's position in preserving and protecting all types of intellectual property and patent rights, which contributes to increasing the flow of investments.

The agreement comes as part of the plan to develop the regulatory and procedural framework related to the registration of intellectual property and patents in cooperation with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The agreement will enable accelerating technical examination procedures of patent applications, enhancing cooperation with the US Patent Office, exchanging the latest findings on patent applications filed with the Bahrain Patent Office, exchanging expertise in managing patent offices and procedures for examination and grants, raising the quality of the reports of the Bahraini National Office, and preventing conflicts in technical results with major international patent offices.  This also includes increasing revenues related to filing patent applications and examining them technically. 

The fast-track system, which supports the applicant approved by international patent offices, including the US Patent Office, will accelerate the procedures for granting patents in the Kingdom based on the examination reports issued by the five major international government offices proposed to be contracted bilaterally, and through this agreement. 

The system also aims to provide an attractive environment for regional and international investments, in addition to enabling the examination of patent applications filed with the Bahrain Patent Office, especially in cases where a specialised patent examiner is not available.