Are patent applications examined in Arabic or English?

Depending on the country, applications will be examined in either language. For example, patent applications in Egypt, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are always examined based on the Arabic translation of the specifications. The search reports and opinions are also issued in Arabic and the responses has to also be submitted in Arabic.

The UAE Patent Office has entered into agreements with various patent offices, such as most recently the South Korean Intellectual Property Office. Accordingly, examination takes place in English, although all documents have to be provided in both English and Arabic for archiving and publication purposes. Another example is the GCC Patent Office. While the GCC Patent Office examines some applications locally in Arabic, the office also outsources others to foreign patent offices. Accordingly, it is possible to see search reports and opinions issued in either language.