The Gulf Cooperation Council Patent Office (GCCPO) recently announced that it will start accepting new filings and performing formality and substantive examination pursuant to the amended law and regulations designating Bahrain and Kuwait. Once accepted, patents will be granted and published by the respective patent offices.
It is still unclear how annuities are going to be handled, and how the deadline for filing will be calculated (whether it is 12 months from priority or 30 months as per PCT guidelines).
This news comes considering the issuance of the amended GCC Patent Law in April 2021. In brief, the new Law introduced changes to several articles, namely Articles 1, 4, 9, 17-21, 25, 28-30 and 32-33.
Most importantly though, is the introduction of Article 1 (bis) and its various provisions wherein the GCC Patent Office may accept new patent filings at the request of one of the GCC national offices, as well as its examination—which is the case now in Bahrain and Kuwait. No patent will be granted without the approval of the requesting national office or offices, and in all cases, a GCC patent will only be enforced in the said country or countries only.
By way of background, January 6, 2021, marked the first day on which the regional GCCPO stopped accepting new patent applications claiming a 12-month priority.
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