Qatar has signed 3 international copyright agreements and is a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works on 5th July, 2000, Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights on 13th January, 1996 and WIPO Copyright Treaty 28th October, 2005. The Copyright Index operates in Qatar under international copyright agreements. Hence it is recognised in all countries which have signed these treaties. Members of the Copyright Index are provided with official certified copyrights for their work, as well as a host of other copyright features. Issuing an official authorised certificate is just one of the ways we protect our members and their work.

As per law, protection shall cover particularly the following works:

(1) Books, pamphlets and other writings

 (2) Works delivered orally such as lectures, addresses, sermons or similar works such as poems and hymns

 (3) Dramatic and dramatic-musical works

 (4) Musical works, whether or not they include accompanying words;

(5) Choreographic works and pantomimes

 (6) audio-visual works

 (7) Photographic and similar works

 (8) Works of applied art, whether handicraft or produced on an industrial scale

 (9) Works of drawing and painting with lines and colours, architecture, sculpture, decorated arts, engravings, sketches, designs and three-dimensional geographic or topographical works.

(10) Computer programs.

Protection shall also extend to the title of the work if it is original.

Notwithstanding the protection provided by the preceding Article, the following derived works shall be protected by the provision of this Law:

(1) works of translation, summary, alteration explanation and other modifications;    

(2) Collection of encyclopaedias and selections if creative in the selection and arrangement of their subject matter;

(3) Data bases if creative in the arrangement of selection of their subject matter;

(4) Collections of works and expressions of folklore if creative by reason of arrangements or selection of their subject matter.

The protection provided by this Law shall not cover the following works:

(1) Laws, legal provisions, administrative decisions, international treaties, official documents or any official translation thereof. However, collections of such material are protected if they involve creative work in the selection and arrangement of their subject matter.

 (2) Daily news and other news of mere informatorily nature.

(3) Ideas, procedures, operational methods, mathematical concepts, principles and mere data. However, any derivative expression thereof shall be covered by protection.

The provisions of this Law shall apply to the following:

(1) Works of Qatari Authors published within or outside the State;

 (2) works which are published for the first time inside the State, and works which are published for the first time in another State and then published in Qatar within thirty days of the first publication date, irrespective of the nationality or place of residence of their authors; (3) audiovisual works whose producer has his headquarters or place of residence in Qatar;

(4) Architectural works constructed in Qatar, or any other artistic work incorporated in a building or any other construction situated in Qatar. The provisions of this Law shall also apply to works protected by an international agreement or a Court in which Qatar is a party, and in accordance with its provisions.

6. No work of any kind shall be published, displayed or circulated unless accompanied by the following:

 (1) Certificate of origin indicating the name of the author or the person to whom the right of exploitation has been assigned;   

To complete the registration procedure applicant has to submit the following documents;

•           Power of attorney;

•           Name of author(s);

•           Subject of the work;

•           Soft copy of the work;

•           Detailed specification of the work; and

•           Declaration of the ownership of the work. Proof of copyright is absolutely necessary for an age where the publication, distribution and theft of work are so easy. Nowadays, copyright infringement and intellectual theft are very common. Hence, it is very important to be on record to keep your rights protected. The sanctions for piracy or infringement activities were also set out in a proper way with statutory penalties of fines of up to QAR 100,000, i.e. USD $27,500 and/or imprisonment for up to one year.

Once your application for trademark registration has been filed, the process takes 12-15 months to be completed. The Trademark Office will examine the application within 2 to 3 months and will either accept the application or conditionally accept or reject the applications.

In case of acceptance, the publication fee should be paid and then will be published in official gazette after two months. In case of conditional acceptance, you can go for an appeal within 60 days period from the date of the official publication of the decision or comply with suggested conditions within 6 months. Otherwise, your application would be considered as withdrawn. In case of rejection, 60 days would be given for appeal. If an appeal is not submitted the application would be considered as automatically abandoned.

Any interested third party can challenge a Trademark approved by Trademark Office, within a period of 120 days from the date of publishing in the official gazette. Also, the applicant would be given 60 days to file a reply with regard to complaints against their claim of the trademark. A final certificate of the trademark will be issued within 3 weeks from the settlement of the trademark registration fees. The validity of a registered trademark in Qatar is 10 years starting from the filing date of the trademark application.

Renewal application for a trademark can be filed form 12 months before the expiry to six months after. However, after the expiry it may be charged with late fees on application. After the filing of application, it may take one or two weeks to issue the renewal certificates.

Trademark change of name or address also will take up to six months. The applicant has to publish in the gazette to ensure formality. The certificate will be issued within one or two months from paying fees for the application.

The ownership of a registered trademark can be assigned with or without the goodwill of the business concern. Unless an assignment has been recorded in the register and published in the Official Gazette of Trademarks, it shall have no effect vis-à-vis third parties. 

Use of trademarks in Qatar is not necessary for filing a trademark application or to maintain a registered trademark. Also, unauthorized use of trademark, including imitation, copying, or selling the same form of products, exhibiting for sale of goods bearing a counterfeit mark, or using a mark duly registered under the law by another person to serve the purpose of unauthorized promotion of goods and/or services of the same class are offences and punishable under the law in Qatar.

As per article 2 of the Patent Law, Patents shall be available for any inventions, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application whether they are related to new industrial products, modern industrial techniques and devices, or common industrial methods. Besides, it shall not be contradicting with the provisions of Islamic Sharia’ (Law), violating the public order, ethics or national security.

Once who got patent will enjoy legal protection for the same for twenty years with exclusive rights. So, as no third party can exploit the invention without authorisation of the owner. There are three conditions which are required to meet the qualification for patent registration.

1.         Novelty

2.         Inventive step

3.         Industrial application

The law doesn’t describe what novelty means, whether it is absolutely novel or not. Anyway, it should be something not revealed to the public till now in Qatar or abroad. The inventive step means something helpful in a way adding the state of art. Industrial application means that the patent should be given only to such a thing which is susceptible to industrial application. It means only a theoretical explanation would not be registered but should be practically proven.

The Patent Law recognises the Compulsory Licensing principle allowing the government to give a third party the right to exploit inventions or processes that are protected by patents, without the consent of the inventor.  The conditions for this are if the owner of the patent is not seriously exploiting the patent for three years from achieving patent, secondly, if the patentee stopped exploiting the patent for two consecutive years without informing the Patent Office, thirdly, if the owner is don’t allow contractual licensing to third parties which will negatively affect the development of Qatar economically as well as commercially. If the patentee can prove some legitimate reasons, then the third-party claims would be declined by the Patent Office.

For the last one and half decades, intellectual property and patent practices in Qatar has gone forward very much. Now, anybody or legal entity can apply and get a license for any intellectual property, trademark and copyrights.

For patent registration in Qatar, Firstly, you have to register online on the MOCI website. You have to specify which type of application you are submitting (PCT or Paris). Then you have to fill all required details including your personal details, invention name, names of inventors etc. Then you have to fill and attach Patent Request from and Patent Obligation Form, inventors ID card or passport and all other documents required.

Your application should include a detailed description of your invention, the agent’s power of attorney evidentiary support for non-residents, commercial registration extract in case of a legal person, the ownership transfer document in case the applicant isn’t the inventor, and the priority documentation issued by the concerned entity.

Once you filed the application through MOIC website, it will go through a strict verification and they will contact you if there any doubts or any amendments are required. After this verification is over, you can pay the registration fees and other fees whichever is needed on the basis of your application. After completion of this stage, you will get the final email which includes all the details of annual fee payment and other things which you have to follow. If you any doubts regarding patent registration you can contact experts from Trade Mark Axis IP. If any kind of opposition on patent allowed for you, it has to be raised within 60 days from publication of the patent.  Major three features which would be inspected during the verification process are novelty, inventiveness and industrial applicability. The duration for the validity of the certificate is 20 years from the date of filing application. It can be renewed from one year before, and within six months after the expiry.

If the patentee has not exploited the invention he registered under patent law in Qatar for a duration of 4 years,  the patent office can grant a compulsory license to a third party, if an application submitted by them proving they have exerted-over a reasonable period of time-efforts in order to obtain a contractual license of reasonable commercial conditions, or for reasonable financial compensation.

A trademark is a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these standard categories, such as those based on colour, smell, or sound (like jingles). Trademarks which are considered offensive are often rejected according to a nation’s trademark law.

A trademark identifies the brand owner of a particular product or service. Trademarks can be used by others under licensing agreements. The unauthorized usage of trademarks by producing and trading counterfeit consumer goods is known as brand piracy. The owner of a trademark may pursue legal action against trademark infringement. Most countries require formal registration of a trademark as a precondition for pursuing this type of action. The United States, Canada, and other countries also recognize common law trademark rights, which means action can be taken to protect any unregistered trademark if it is in use. Still, common law trademarks offer to the holder, in general, less legal protection than registered trademarks.

The essential function of a trademark is to exclusively identify the source or origin of products or services, so a trademark, properly called, indicates source or serves as a badge of origin. In other words, trademarks serve to identify a particular entity as the source of goods or services. The use of a trademark in this way is known as trademark use. Certain exclusive rights attach to a registered mark. Trademarks are used not only by businesses but also by non-commercial organizations and religions to protect their identity and goodwill associated with their name.

Trademarks in Qatar

In Qatar, trademarks are registered with the Industrial Property Protection Office, which is under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Qatar. Before going for trademark registration, it is good to verify their signs and logos with the respective offices whether those items are already registered or legally accepted by the Qatar Government.

How to register Trademark in Qatar

Qatar follows the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks under International Nice Classification – 11^th Version. The registration of trademarks in Qatar is protected by Law no. 9/2002 referring to commercial indications, industrial designs, and models, trade names, etc.

Products like alcoholic drinks and beverages are not registrable. A separate application should be filed with respect to each class of goods or services. And should do verification of trademark, which you want to register. You have to submit documents including logo/symbols and all other papers. You can submit only a single application, in The Industrial Property Protection Office. Qatar.  Another important point which has to be noted is that, if you are a foreign investor, you have to appoint an agent Office with a legalized power of attorney for trademark registration in Qatar. Prior verification before starting trademark registration is intended to avoid duplication. So, every trademark application should be unique. Otherwise, it would fail in the verification process itself and will be unable to go for registration. You can submit print in colour or black and white along with specifying which colours you are claiming.

Once your application for registration of trademark accepted by the official authority of The Industrial Property Protection Office, they will verify and publish in the Official Gazette of Trademarks. If there, any kind of complaints or opposition can be raised, withing 4 months from this. If any complaints raised by filing an opposition against the registration, the applicant has the right to file a counter opposition and in due course to fix a Hearing by filing appropriate applications. The registrar will do a hearing of both parties or any one of them and a decision will be issued by the IPO. If the case is not settled, then either party can move to civil court.

Once the registration process completed, The Intellectual Property Protection Office will issue a certificate which includes the date of the registration, the serial number of the trademark, the name of the trademark owners, the list of products or services for which the trademark registration is made, and the specimen of the trademark. Trademark registration in Qatar is valid for 10 years from the date of application, which can be renewed from 12 months before the expiry date and within 6 months after the expiry with a penalty.