Kuwait (Law No. 4 of 1962) Patents, Designs & Industrial Models and Regulations (Order No. 15 of 1965)

KUWAIT, April 9, 1962 - Law No. 4 of 1962 (1)

GOVERNING PATENTS DESIGNS MODELS

The Constituent Assembly having ratified the following Law,

WE, ABDULLAH AL-SALEM AL-SABAH, Amir of Kuwait,

Hereby approve and promulgate the same:

PART ONE - PATENTS OF INVENTION

Chapter 1 - General Provisions

(Article 1)
Patents shall be granted in accordance with the provisions of this Law for any new invention which is utilizable in industry whether it concerns new industrial product, original industrial process and techniques or a new application of know industrial process or techniques.

(Article 2)
Patents shall not be granted in respect of the following:

1. Inventions whose utilization results in a breach of morality or public policy.
2. Chemical inventions relating to foodstuffs, medecines or pharmaceutical formulae unless such products are made by special chemical methods or processes. In the latter event the patent shall not be issued for the products themselves but for the method of their preparation.

(1) Published on April 15, 1962 (Gazette No. 373).

(Article 3)
An invention shall not be considered new, whether Wholly or partially, in the following two cases:

1. Where during the twenty years preceding the date of submission of the application for patent, the invention had been used openly in Kuwait, or where a description or design thereof had been announced in publications circulated in Kuwait, and the published description or design was so clear as to make it possible for skilled persons to utilize it.

2. Where, during the twenty years preceding the date of submission of the application for patent, a patent had been granted in respect of the invention or part thereof to other than the inventor or his assignee, or where others had applied for a patent in respect of the same invention or part thereof during the said period.

(Article 4)
A register called 'The Register of Patents' shall be established at the Trade Marks Control Office in which shall be recorded patents and all particulars pertaining thereto in accordance with the provisions of this Law and the orders to be issued thereunder.

(Article 5)
The following persons shall be entitled to apply for patents:

1. Kuwait nationals
2. Foreigners residing in Kuwait or having industrial or commercial establishments therein.
3. Foreigners who are nationals of countries which accord Kuwait reciprocal treatment, or who are residents of or have a true domicile in such countries.
4. Corporations, societies, firms or associations of industrialists, producers, merchants or workers established in Kuwait or in countries which accord Kuwait reciprocal treatment, if they enjoy corporate status.
5. Public services.

(Article 6)
The patent right shall belong to the inventor or his assignee.

Where the invention is the result of the joint effort of several persons, the patent right shall belong to all of them jointly and equally unless they agree otherwise.

Where, however, the invention was arrived at by several persons each independent of the others, the patent right shall belong to the person who submitted his application first.

(Article 7)

Where a person has requested another to disclose a particular invention, all the rights pertaining to such invention shall belong to the former. Similarly, the employer shall have all rights pertaining to inventions introduced by the worker or employee during the existence of the labour or employment relation where the invention falls within the contract or within the labour relation.

The name of the inventor shall be mentioned in the patent and he shall in all cases be entitled to a remuneration. Where such remuneration is not agreed on, he shall be entitled to an equitable compensation from the person whom he had requested to disclose the invention or from the employer.

(Article 8)

In cases other than those mentioned in the preceding Article, where the invention relates to the public or private establishment to which the inventor is attached, the employer shall have the option of either utilizing the invention or purchasing the patent in consideration of an equitable compensation to be paid to the inventor, provided that such option shall be exercised within three months from the date of notification of the granting of the patent.

(Article 9)

An application for patent submitted by an inventor within one year after the date of his separation from the private or public establishment shall be considered as if it had been submitted during the performance of the contract or the existence of the labour or employment relation, and both the inventor and the employer shall be entitled to all the rights provided for in the two preceding Articles, as the case may be.

(Article 10)

The patent owner shall have the exclusive right of utilizing the invention in every way.

(Article 11)

The provisions relating to patents shall not be applicable to a person who, in good faith, had been utilizing the invention industrially or had made the necessary arrangements to utilize it before the submission of the application for the patent, in which case he shall be entitled to utilize the patent for the needs of his establishment without such right being assignable independently of the establishment itself.

(Article 12)

The patent shall be valid for a period of fifteen years starting from the date of the application, and the patent owner shall have the right to apply for is renewal once only for a period not exceeding five years, provided that he shall apply for renewal during the last year and prove that invention is of special importance and that he has not reaped from it benefits compatible with his efforts and expenses.

A decision issued by the Trade Marks Control Office concerning renewal shall be open to challenge the Commercial Division of the First Instance Court.

Patents granted under Paragraph 2, Article 2, of this Law shall be valid for a non renewable period of ten years.

(Article 13)

A fee of ten dinars shall be paid upon the submission of an application for patent or for renewal. This fee shall not be refundable under any circumstance.

(Article 14)

Where the subject matter of the invention concerns the introduction of alterations, improvements or additions to an invention for which a patent was previously granted, the owner of such patent may, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 15 and 16 of this Law, apply for an additional patent whose validity shall expire with the validity of the original patent. A fee amounting to three dinars shall be payable upon the submission of the application.

In the event of the cancellation or invalidation of the original patent, the additional patent shall remain valid and become independent of the original patent, and its validity period shall be considered as starting from the date of that patent.

Chapter II - Application Procedures

(Article 15)

The application for patent shall be submitted by the inventor or his assignee to the Trade Marks Control Office of the Ministry of Finance and Economy in accordance with the term and conditions specified in the Regulations.

An application for patent shall not include more than one invention.

(Article 16)

A detailed description of the invention and the method of its utilization, including a clear description of the new elements for which the person concerned requests protection, as well as a drawing of the invention, where necessary, shall be attached to the application in the manner prescribed by the Regulations.

(Article 17)

The applicant for patent may utilize his invention as from the date of submission of the application.

(Article 18)

The Trade Marks Control Office shall examine the application for patent and its enclosures in order to ascertain:

1. that the application has been submitted in accordance with the provisions of Article 15 of this Law;
2. that the description and drawing depict the invention in a manner that permits industrialists to execute it;
3. that the original elements for which the person concerned requests protection are clearly and precisely mentioned in the application.

(Article 19)

The Trade Mark Control Office may, within the period specified in the Regulations, direct the applicant to make such changes in the application as it deems necessary according to the provisions of the preceding Article. If the applicant fails to do so, he shall be considered as having relinquished his application. The applicant may, within thirty days from the date of his notification of the decision of the Trade Marks Control Office concerning those changes, appeal to the Court of First Instance against this decision. The court may confirm, quash or amend the decision.

(Article 20)

Where the application for patent satisfies the conditions provided for in Article 18 of this Law, the Trade Marks Control Office shall advertise the application in the manner prescribed in the Regulations.

(Article 21)

Any interested person may, within the period specified in the Regulations, oppose the issue of the patent by notice addressed to the Trade Marks Control Office. Such notice shall state the reasons for the opposition.

(Article 22)

Any decision issued by the Trade Marks Control Office on the opposition may be challenged before the court within a period of thirty days from the date of its notification to the persons concerned. The court shall summarily decide on such challenge.

(Article 23)

The grant of patent to the entitled person shall be effected by order of the Minister of Finance and Economy. Such order of the published in the manner prescribed by the Regulations.

(Article 24)

Where it appears to the Trade Marks Control Office that the invention is of defense or military value, it shall immediately advise the General Command of the Armed Forces of the application for patent and the attachments thereto. The General Command of the armed Forces may, within three months from the date of submission of the application for patent, oppose the grant of patent to the applicant in consideration either of purchase of the invention or of agreeing with him on its utilization.

(Article 25)

The applicant or owner of a patent may at any time apply for the amendment of the specifications or drawing of the invention, indicating the nature of the alteration and the reasons therefor, provided that the alteration shall not affect the substance of the invention.

The procedure to be followed in such application shall be that applicable to the application for patent.

(Article 26)

Any person may, in the manner prescribed in the Regulations, obtain a copy of the applications for patents and the documents relating thereto as well as extracts from the Register of Patents, and may also examine the applications, documents and the Register.

CHAPTER III - Transfer of Ownership, Pledge and Attachment

(Article 27)

The patent right and all rights pertaining to the patent shall develop by inheritance. Similarly, the ownership of a patent of invention may be transferred, wholly or partially, for or without a consideration, and may also be pledged.

The ownership of a patent shall be transferred and the pledge thereof shall be valid in respect of third parties but only from the date on which an entry to that effect is made in the Patents Register.

The transfer of ownership or the pledge of a patent shall be published in the manner prescribed in the Regulations.

(Article 28)

Creditors may lay attachment on patents belonging to their debtor, in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Procedures governing the attachment of movable property or garnishment under the hands of third parties. The Trade Marks Control Office shall be exempt from the provisions requiring a garnishee to declare the debts owed by him to a distrainee.

The attachment and the auction award shall be notified by the creditor to the Trade Marks Control Office for entry in the Register, and shall not be considered valid in respect of third parties except from the date of such entry. The attachment shall be published in the manner prescribed in the Regulations.

CHAPTER IV

Issue of Compulsory Licence for the Utilization of inventions and their Expropriation in the Public Interest

(Article 29)

Where the invention is not utilized in Kuwait within three years from the date of the granting of the patent, or where the owner is unable to utilize it adequately to meet the needs of the country, or where the utilization of the invention has been stopped for a minimum period of two consecutive years, the Trade Marks Control Office may grant a compulsory licence for the utilization of the invention to any person to whom the patent owner has refused to transfer the right of utilization or has made such transfer conditional upon the fulfilment of exorbitant financial terms.

The compulsory licence shall be granted on condition that the applicant is able to utilize the invention effectively, and the patent owner shall be entitled to a suitable compensation. The Trade Marks Control Office shall forward a copy of the application to the patent owner who shall submit to the Control Office, within the period secified in the Regulations, a written reply to the application. Where the reply is not received within the prescribed period, the Trade Marks Control Office shall issue its decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the application of the application..

The Control Office may make its acceptance subject to such conditions as it may deem necessary and its decision shall be challengeable before the court within a period of thirty days from the date of its notification to the person concerned.

(Article 30)

Where, despite the expiration of the periods provided for in the first paragraph of the preceding Article, the Trade Marks Control Office considers that the non-utilization of the invention is due to reasons beyond the control of the patent owner, it may grant him a delay not exceeding two years to utilize the invention in the proper way

(Article 31)

Where the utilization of the invention is of great importance to national industry and such utilization necessitates the use of another invention for which a patent was previously granted, the Trade Marks Control Office may grant the owner of the invention a compulsory licence to utilize the previous invention where the owner of the latter has refused to agree to its utilization on reasonable terms. Conversely, the owner of the previous invention may be granted compulsory licence to utilize the subsequent invention where his invention is of greater importance.

The circumstances and conditions referred to in Article 30 shall be observed in the granting of licence and the determination of the compensation due to one of the two invention owners from the other. The decision of the Trade Marks Control Office in this respect shall be challengeable before the court within a period of thirty days from the date of notification of the person concerned.

(Article 32)

Inventions may, for reasons connected with public utility or national defence, be expropriated by order of the Minister of Finance and Economy.

This may cover all the rights involved in the patent or in the application submitted therefor, or it may be restricted to the right of utilizing the invention for the country's needs.

In such event the patent owner shall be entitled to equitable compensation.

The compensation shall be determined by a committee formed by order of the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

The decision of the Committee shall be subject to appeal before the competent court within thirty days from the date of notification of the decision to the complainant.

CHAPTER V - Expiration and Invalidation of Patent

(Article 33)

Patent rights shall lapse in the following cases:
(a) Expiration of the period of protection allowed by the patent in accordance with the provisions of Article 12 of this Law.
(b) Relinquishment of the patent by the owner.
(c) Invalidation of the patent by a final court order.

(Article 34)

The Trade Marks Control Office and any interested person may petition the court for the invalidation of patents granted contrary to the provisions of Article 2 and 3 of this Law and the Trade Marks Control Office shall cancel patents when a final judgment to that effect is submitted to it.

The court may, at the request of the Trade Marks Control Office or of the persons concerned, order the addition to the register of any detail that has been overlooked, or the amendment of any detail that is inconsistent with the facts, or the deletion of any detail that has been wrongfully recorded.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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