The current patent law in the Sultanate of Oman was introduced by Royal Decree number 82/2000, but due to logistical and administrative constraints, the Omani patent office only started accepting patent applications in December 2005, after the Ministry of Commerce published the official fees of patent applications in Oman.
Oman is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and became a signatory to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on October 26 2001, thus becoming the 113th member of the PCT. Since that date, applicants for PCT international applications have been able to designate Oman (country code: OM) for purposes of future national phase filings.
The Omani patent office revised the requirements for filing national phase applications in Oman at the beginning of 2008 and the following documents now need to be filed:
- a legalized power of attorney (legalized up to the Omani consulate/embassy in the country of origin);
- international publication sheet;
- international search report;
- specification, claims, drawings and abstract in English and Arabic; and
- PCT preliminary examination report.
Note that the English specification, claims, drawings and abstract must be filed at the time of filing the application in Oman. The Arabic translation can be filed within three months of the filing date. The application must be filed within 30 months of the priority application, if there is one. Documents 2, 3 and 5 above must be filed at the time of filing the application. The power of attorney can be filed within three months of the filing date.
Oman also became a member of the Budapest Treaty (deposit of micro-organisms) and the Madrid Protocol (international registration of trade marks) in 2007. With these developments, together with the signing of a Free Trade Agreement with the United States on January 19 this year (which is not yet in force), Oman appears to be readying itself as a special trading partner of the United States.
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| André Human |
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