Trademark Registration in GCC
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a political and economic alliance comprising six Middle Eastern countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Protect your brand’s identity and intellectual property within the GCC region with our professional Trademark Registration services. Our expert team at Alraqeem specializes in guiding businesses through the trademark registration process, ensuring legal compliance and protection for your valuable assets.
Registering your trademark in each GCC member state individually is essential, as the GCC does not currently offer a unified trademark registration system.
Trademark Registration in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries
Assessing the likelihood of successfully registering your trademark in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—is essential. It’s important to note that searches for figurative elements (logos) are generally not available; only the verbal components of a trademark can be examined.
Why and how to register a trademark in the Gulf countries?
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is actively working to harmonize trademark laws across its member states—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—to streamline and standardize trademark processes throughout the region.
For detailed information on trademark regulations and services specific to each GCC member country, please refer to our dedicated country pages.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has introduced a Unified Trademark Law to harmonize trademark regulations across its member states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. However, this law does not establish a centralized trademark registration system. Consequently, to secure trademark protection in all GCC countries, you must file separate applications in each member state. Currently, there are no plans to implement a single, unified trademark registration system for the entire GCC. The primary aim of the Unified Trademark Law is to standardize the trademark laws and procedures among the member countries.
Despite significant progress in aligning trademark regulations within the GCC, trademark owners are still required to submit individual applications in each member country where protection is desired. You have the flexibility to choose the specific GCC countries in which to register your trademark; there is no obligation to file in all member states. As of now, several member states have taken steps toward implementing the Unified Trademark Law, with varying degrees of progress.
To date the following member states have taken the below actions:
- Saudi Arabia – Decree No. M/51 dated 26 April 2014 approved the Saudi Council of Minister’s decision No. 306 of the same date and the Trademark Law is to be published within 30 days from the date of issuance of the Implementing regulation and will come into force after 90 days of its publication in the Official Gazette.
- Qatar – Decree No. 7 of 2014 approved the Trademark Law which was published on June 30, 2014.
- Bahrain – Decision No. 6 of 2014 approved the Trademark Law which was published in the Official Gazette No. 3145 dated February 27, 2014.
- Kuwait – Law No. 13 of 2015 was issued and published in Official Gazette No. 1228 dated March 22, 2015
- Oman / UAE – At present, neither country has published any legislation with regard to the Trademark Law. It, therefore, remains to be seen how or when the Trademark Law will be implemented in each of these member states.
Time & Professional Fee for Trademark Registration in GCC
Country | Duration of time | Power of Attorney |
2 to 4 months | Notarize | |
6 to 8 months | Notarize | |
6 to 8 months | Notarize | |
4 to 7 months | Legalize | |
6 to 9 months | Notarize | |
6 to 9 months | Notarize |
Process Of Trademark Registration in GCC Countires
Documents required for Trademark Registration in GCC
Notarized Power of Attorney (POA)
Passport Copy of the Managing Director
A copy Business/Company License
Logo in high resolution
Class Number (List of goods/services)
FAQs
The definition of what constitutes a trademark will include sound marks, smell marks, and single colors.
Certified translations and transliterations of trademarks that are not in Arabic will have to be presented at the moment of filing.
Multiclass application is not possible in the GCC. If a trademark is to be registered in more than one class, independent applications for each class have to be filed.
Priority may be claimed when filing a trademark based on a previous foreign application.
Considerations as to whether identical or similar trademarks exist will not be limited to the class under which a trademark is filed. Confusing similarity also takes into account trademarks filed or registered for similar goods or services even if they fall in different classes.
Protection of well-known trademarks is to improve in regards to what constitutes a well-known trademark. Well-known trademarks in GCC countries will not have to be registered in order to be granted protection. The translation of a well-known trademark will now also have protection.
Finally, once registered, if a trademark is not used for a period of 5 years in the member country of the GCC in which it is registered, third parties will be able to present cancellation actions against the registered trademark.
Trademark registrations are valid for 10 years from the filing date and are renewable for like periods.
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