KSA: Establishment of Commercial Arbitration Center
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Arbitration has become more efficient in resolving conflicts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the establishment of the first Commercial Arbitration Center.
Walkthrough of the Saudi Commercial Arbitration Center:
- The Center’s head office is location in Riyadh, but the Council of Ministers seeks establishing branches in other parts of the Kingdom.
- The Council of Chambers of Commerce and Industry directors will run the center.
- The Ministry of Justice will handle the issuance of licenses for the center.
- The directors will regulate the arbitration and incurring fees and expenses.
- The concerned ministries will also provide arbitral aids funded be the government to those involved with claims.
South Sudan: Time to Register Your Marks
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Following the separation of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011, authorities are now expected to issue a new trademark law that would be in compliance with the international standards. However, the enactment of the new law is not presumed to take place in the near future. In the meantime, the Ministry of Justice is now admitting trademark applications under the provisions of the trademarks act of 1969 that is currently in force in the neighboring Sudan. In principle, registrations, submitted under the act of 1969, will remain valid after the issuance of the new trademark law of South Sudan. Saba& Co. IP will monitor the situation and provide updates should any changes occur.
Djibouti: Small Country, Big Ambitions
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
With an area of 23,200 square kilometers, it is easy to overlook Djibouti on a map. This small country, however, occupies an unrivaled regional role that is increasing in significance. As the largest deepwater port off of the coast of the Red Sea, Djibouti serves as an international refueling and transshipment center. It also offers a route to the sea for Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Imports and exports, to and from Ethiopia mainly, account for most of Djibouti’s harbor traffic. Transportation and warehousing costs are inflated, which leads to the occasional auctioning of goods into the Djiboutian market. This is because imports remain in Djibouti for a period of time ranging between three to six months before being released.
Djibouti experiences stable economic development as the annual GDP growth averaged 5 percent due to good performance in the services sector. The GDP is $2.505 billion, while the GDP per capita is $2,700. The GDP composition is 3 percent for agriculture, 17.3 percent for industry, and 79.7 percent for services.
The country encourages foreign investment. With laws based on the French legal system catering to the benefit of investors, the Djiboutian investment code guarantees investors to freely import all the required material for their investments. The Djiboutian law protects the acquisition and disposition of all property rights, intellectual property, patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
In addition to being a signatory to TRIPS Agreement and a member of the World Trade Organization, Djibouti observers the WIPO Convention, the Paris Convention, and the Berne Convention. Djibouti has passed a law enforcing the protection of copyrights and maintains an Office of Industrial and Commercial Property Rights for the protection of property rights.
Trademarks are registered in Djibouti, in accordance with the 8th edition of the Nice International Classification, for a period of 10 years from filing date and are renewable for life periods. A grace period of six months is observed. A single application can include several classes. Provisions apply for the registration of collective marks and certification marks. Examination on relative grounds is not performed.
The main features of trademark registration are as follows:
- Trademark applications and registrations may be assigned with or without the goodwill of the business concerned.
- A change of name/address can be recorded for trademark applications and registrations.
- License recordal is compulsory in order to be effective against third parties.
- A merger may be recorded for trademark applications and registrations.
- Marking is not compulsory.
- A registered mark can be cancelled by the decision of the Court at any time if the conditions of grant were not respected.
- The time frame for completing the registration process is 10 to 12 months.
Protection of patents and industrial designs is based on the implementing regulations of Industrial Property Law no. 50/AN/09/6ème which came into force in Djibouti on November 25, 2011, Decree No. 2011-079.
The main features of the patents and industrial designs protection framework are as follows:
- Patents may be granted with respect to products and processes, as well as new applications or combinations of known means to arrive at new results.
- Inventions must satisfy the criteria of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
- Exclusions from patentability are methods of diagnosis, therapy and surgery for the treatment of persons or animals.
- Patents will be granted for 20 years from filing date.
- Maintenance fees are payable for consecutive periods of 5 years from the date of filing. There is a grace period of six months.
- A single industrial design application may contain up to 100 models or designs, as long as these are intended to be incorporated in objects grouped in the same class of the Locarno classification system.
- Industrial designs will be registered for an initial period of 5 years from the filing date, renewable for a further two consecutive periods of 5 years upon the payment of renewal fees, with a grace period of six months.
Tunisia: European Patent Validation Agreement
Wednesday, 23 July 2014
Following in the footsteps of its neighbor Morocco, the Tunisian patent office, or the National Standardization and Industrial Property Institute (INNORPI), signed, on July 3 2014, an agreement which will allow owners of EPO grants to validate their patent(s) in Tunisia by designating it as they would any other EPC member state. Although neither country is an EPC member state, these agreements will give both countries a pseudo-EPC status with regards to patent protection, and will encourage more filings and foreign investment.
Neither country’s respective patent office currently performs substantive examination. Thus by entering into this type of agreement with the EPO, both countries have ensured that validated patents in their countries will have the same legal effect as national applications and patents, and will be subject only to local patent legislation.
As a reminder, in December 2010, the Moroccan patent office, or the Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office (OMPIC), signed a similar agreement. Up to this date however, the Moroccan patent law has not been amended to start implementing the validation of European grants. It is anticipated that such an amendment will be introduced this year and voted into law.
Yemen: Increase in Publication Fees
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
The Yemeni government has significantly increased the official publication fees of trademark, patent and industrial design applications by virtue of Ministerial decision no. 105/2014 (issued on July 1, 2014), while all other fees remain the same. The new rates will be applicable on all applications filed on or after August 7, 2014. For your information, trademark, patent and industrial design applications are published in the Official Gazette upon acceptance.
Oppositions may be filed within 90 days from publication date.
Bahrain: New Requirements for Patent Applications
Friday, 4 July 2014
Bahraini Patent Office introduced new requirements for supporting patent filings, for both national and PCT entries. These new requirements went into effect on May 1, 2014, but are retroactive to pending applications. The patent office will issue notices and set a deadline for completing the requirements for the pending cases.
For PCT national stage entries, in addition to a copy of the international publication and the complete specifications in English, applicants were required to submit the Arabic translation of the complete specifications as well as a legalized/Apostilled Power of Attorney. These had to be submitted within a non-extendable 3 month period from the filing date in Bahrain. It is required to submit a simple copy of the POA at the time of filing until the legalized original is filed.
Under the new requirements, the BPO additionally started requesting a simply signed inventor assignment form as well as a simple copy of the priority document (not certified), in English and Arabic (if different than the specifications being filed), a copy of the PCT specifications in English and Arabic (again if different than the priority and/or the specifications being filed) as well as a copy of the International Search Report. The same deadline of 3 months applies for submitting these supporting documents (4 months for the Arabic translation of the specifications). As mentioned above, these new requirements also apply to all pending patent applications in Bahrain.
The list below summarizes these requirements as well as those for national applications.
This could be the BPO’s way of indicating that it is gearing towards beginning the examination and granting process of patent applications; however there have not been any concrete or official declarations to that end.
Complete Specifications in English
National Filing
At time of filing
PCT Filing
At time of filing
Complete Specifications in Arabic
National Filing
Within 4 months from filing
PCT Filing
Within 4 months from filing
Abstract in Arabic
National Filing
At time of filing
PCT Filing
At time of filing
Copy of International Application
National Filing
N/A
PCT Filing
At time of filing
Copy of International Publication
National Filing
N/A
PCT Filing
At time of filing
Copy of the ISR
National Filing
N/A
PCT Filing
At time of filing
CD-ROM containing specifications
National Filing
At time of filing
PCT Filing
N/A
Copy of Priority Document(s)
National Filing
Legalized/Apostille , within 3 months from filing
PCT Filing
N/A
Priority Document in Arabic (including drawings)
National Filing
Within 3 months from filing
PCT Filing
Within 3 months from filing
Power of Attorney
National Filing
Legalized/Apostille, within 3 months from filing
PCT Filing
Legalized/Apostille, within 3 months from filing
Assignment from Inventors
National Filing
Simple, within 3 months from filing
PCT Filing
Simple, within 3 months from filing
Certificate of Incorporation
National Filing
Simple, within 3 months from filing
PCT Filing
N/A
Customs Recordal: Alive and Kicking
Friday, 4 July 2014
Border measures are always a key tool in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy and a critical element of a successful intellectual property enforcement system. So in the scope of the continuous efforts to create competent border enforcement measures and to provide effective protection, the Customs in Morocco, Sudan, UAE, Tunisia and Cyprus have established a trademark recordation system for registered trademarks. This system will undoubtedly help Customs officials target, intercept, and confiscate shipments of infringing goods.
Pursuant to this recordation system, the owner of a trademark registration can apply to the Customs of the above-mentioned countries requesting recordation. The application should include certain information as required by the applicable policies and must be accompanied by the certificate of registration of the mark and a power of attorney. The Customs will then issue a recordation notice.
One fundamental premise of the recordation system (other than providing a central registry containing information for recorded trademarks) is that it allows Customs officials to adopt an ex-officio border system. An ex-officio system is different from the standard border system in which a judicial authority orders Customs to detain the infringing shipment after identifying the infringing goods. The key advantage of the ex-officio system is that it allows for prompt and proactive action by Customs officials thus avoiding the delays inherently involved in seeking judicial action. Customs officials are always on the lookout for infringing goods and are thus able to act quickly to confiscate counterfeit and pirated merchandise.
It is worth noting here that the Morocco, Sudan, UAE, Tunisia and Cyprus are all members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO extends to agreements concerning not only the trade in goods and services but also to the trade-related aspects of intellectual property TRIPS.
TRIPS, Part III, Section 4 describes the specific requirements for border measures in order to provide an enhanced and effective level of intellectual property protection.
Morocco
Filing Requirements
1- A petition duly executed on behalf of the rights holder.
2- An Undertaking, legalized, together with a notarized copy of the company’s General Assembly showing the name and position of the signatory.
3- A certified copy of the registration certificate of the trademark to be recorded.
4- Power of attorney duly executed, showing the identity and title of the signatory.
5- Actual samples of goods bearing the trademark involved or a leaflet / brochure allowing easy identification of the genuine products in comparison with the counterfeit products.
6- Any relevant information on the origin of the counterfeit goods if available.
7- A specification of the exact goods for which the mark is actually used, in order for the Customs to assign the adequate Harmonized System coding.
Recordal Period
The recordal will be valid for 12 months, renewable for like periods.
Sudan
Filing Requirements
1- Power of attorney, legalized up to the Sudanese Consulate.
2- Certificate of Incorporation also legalized in the same manner as the Power.
3- Certified copy of the registration certificate of the trademark to be recorded.
4- Copy of the Import Certificate. Same is usually issued to the local agent/distributer by the Ministry of Economy and Trade.
5- Request form.
6- An electronic presentation of the original product to aid the Customs officials in detecting counterfeit products and differentiating them from the originals.
Recordal Period
Recordal is valid for one year, renewable for like periods.
Tunisia
Filing Requirements
1- Power of attorney, simply signed.
2- Certified copy of trademark registration certificate.
3- Photos and other information about the original products and counterfeiting products.
4- Application Form.
Recordal Period
Recordal is valid for one year, renewable for like periods.
UAE (Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah)
Filing Requirements
1- Power of attorney notarized and legalized up to the UAE Consulate.
2- Certified copy of the registration certificate of the trademark to be recorded.
3- Filing request form.
4- An electronic presentation of the original product to aid the Customs officials in detecting counterfeit products and differentiating them from original ones.
Recordal Period
Recordal is valid for the trademark’s protection term, renewable for like periods.
Cyprus
Filing Requirements
1- Certified copy of the registration certificate of the trademark to be recorded.
2- Application Form.
3- Photos and other information about the original products and counterfeiting products.
Recordal Period
Recordal is valid for one year, renewable for like periods.
Algeria
Filing Requirements
1- Power of attorney signed under the company’s seal or letterhead and duly legalized before the Algerian Consulate.
2- Letter of commitment in French signed under the company’s seal or letterhead and duly legalized before the Algerian Consulate.
3- Copies of registration certificates.
Recordal Period
Recordal is valid for the trademark’s protection term, renewable for like periods.
Turkey
Filing Requirements
1- Power of Attorney, notarized with an Apostille certification.
2- Certified copy of the registration certificate of the trademark to be recorded.
3- Application form.
4- An electronic presentation of the original product to aid the Customs officials in detecting counterfeit products and differentiating them from original ones.
Recordal Period
Recordal is valid for one year, renewable for like periods.
Saudi Arabia
Filing Requirements
1-Power of Attorney, duly notarized and legalized up to the Saudi Consul.
2-Copy of a valid Saudi registration of the mark that will be recorded with the customs.
Recordal Period
Recordal is valid for one year, renewable for like periods.
Qatar
Filing Requirements
To be announced.
Recordal Period
To be announced.
Azerbaijan
Filing Requirements
To be announced.
Recordal Period
To be announced.
ICANN: Sunrise Periods and Trademark Claims
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has proceeded with its project of increasing internet domain names endings. By way of background, this project was approved back in 2012 when there were only 22 domain name endings (such as .org; .net; .com) and around 250 country code endings. The main purpose of this project is to significantly expand Top-Level Domains (TLDs) to allow companies and even cities to turn their own brands into domain name extensions.
Applications for new internet domain name endings are processed in “batches” and not on a “first in, first served” basis. Currently, trademark applications are open to examination for firms wishing to create unique Top-level-domains for their websites. A sunrise claim period is required for the examination process after which the TLD may be allowed.
However, For the TLD to go through the sunshine period, the trademark should be available and certified by the Trademark Clearinghouse as it allows the owner to obtain the exact domain name as his trademark, entitles the entity to take corrective measures against any party seeking a registration name identical to their trademark within 90 days from the TLD acceptance.
IP FLASH: A Summary on Patents in the Region
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
1. Saudi Arabia (SA) acceded to the PCT on May 3, 2013 and applications with international filing date of August 3, 2013 and later automatically designate SA for national phase entry with a 30 month deadline. The Saudi Patent Office (SPO) has not issued the implementing regulations relating to PCT filings, accordingly, the SPO has not begun accepting PCT national phase entries or acting as a receiving office.
2. Iran (IR) acceded to the PCT on July 4, 2013 and applications with international filing date of October 4, 2013 and later automatically designate IR for national phase entry with a 30 month deadline. As of the date of this e-mail, the Iranian Intellectual Property Office (IIPO) has not issued the implementing regulations relating to PCT filings, accordingly, the IIPO has not begun accepting PCT national phase entries or acting as a receiving office.
3. Earlier this year, the Jordanian Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed new amendments to the Patent Law. These amendments have not yet been approved or published in the Official Gazette.
4. Both Oman and Bahrain are now signatories to the Hague Convention. Accordingly, documents previously requiring legalization may now be Apostilled instead.
5. Algeria and Iran patent offices have begun substantive examination for all pending and new applications.
6. The Bahraini Patent Office has begun requesting additional documentation for the filing of a patent application. The requirements now include: Apostilled POA, simply signed inventor assignment form and Arabic translation of the priority document (if claimed).
Yemen: Accession to the World Trade Organization
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Yemen became the 160th member of the World Trade Organization on June 26, 2014. The country now observes the TRIPS Agreement. Other WTO members in the region are Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. Countries with observer status are Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, and Syria. Yemen is also affiliated with the World Intellectual Property Organization, Paris Convention, and Berne Convention.
KSA: GCC Trademark Law Published
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
The decision for approving the revised GCC trademark law in Saudi Arabia was recently published in the country. By way of background, GCC trademark law was ratified in 2006 and was subsequently approved by the Saudi government in 2007. However, back then, the governments of Oman and Bahrain could not approve the draft in view of their US Free Trade Agreements obligations. As a result, the GCC Trade Cooperation Committee had to assemble more than once over the course of the past few years to address the concerns raised by Bahrain and Oman. The draft GCC trademark law was then further revised following the discussions that took place.
The purpose of the GCC Trademark Law is to replace the local trademarks laws of each of the GCC member states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) and, thereby, creating unified implementing regulations for trademark protection in all states. However, the GCC Trademark Law is not expected to offer for a unified filing system as the case is with the GCC Patent Law. Trademark applications will continue to be filed separately in each GCC member state for protection. The GCC Law will enter into force once the implementing regulations are issued, which is not expected anytime soon.
The 50-article Law outlines the general directives and rulings governing trademark registration, renewal, assignment, and cancellation procedures in the GCC countries. The main features of the Trademark Law as approved by the GCC Supreme Council are as follows:
1. The definition of a trademark has been broadened to include sound and smell marks.
2. A trademark may be individual or collective.
3. A separate application is required for each class.
4. Claim of priority, based on an earlier-filed foreign application, is possible.
5. Trademark applications accepted by the Registrar will be published for opposition purposes. Oppositions must be filed within 60 days from publication date.
6. Trademark registrations are valid for 10 years from filing date and are renewable for like periods. There is a grace period of six months for late renewals.
7. A trademark is vulnerable to cancellation by any interested party if there has been no effective use of the mark for a period of five consecutive years after registration.
8. The Law shall recognize famous trademarks that are well-known in the GCC member states and shall ensure protection thereof even if the marks are not registered.
9. The Law gives the right to trademark owners to initiate civil and criminal actions against any infringing party. Penalties include a maximum of five year imprisonment and payment of fines of up to US $ 270,000.
Yemen: License to Zap
Thursday, 19 June 2014
The government of Yemen set a national five-year plan for development to introduce Integrated Pest Management; with one of the requirements relating to the registration of trademarks in class 5. The Yemeni General Administration for Plant Protection will not approve any pesticide in the market place without the submission of a valid local registration certificate of the corresponding mark. The General Administration will prohibit product exportation for those who break the regulation. The IPM also aims to restrict the use of pesticides and completely ban illegal chemicals. The plan, having commenced in 2011, aims to conclude in 2015.
Ethiopia: Deadline Extended to Dec. 23, 2014
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
The Ethiopian Trademark Office announced that the submission deadline will be extended to December 23, 2014 for the applications of re-registration of trademarks filed in the country before July 7, 2006. The extension also applies to the renewal applications of trademarks filed between July 07, 2006 and June 22, 2007, which were due for renewal in 2014.
Arab World: Opportunities and Risks for Pharma
Monday, 9 June 2014
The three primary criteria for a pharmaceutical company to investigate when building a marketing strategy are market size and growth, protection of intellectual property rights and enforcement of said rights. This report provides an insight into these criteria as they relate to the MENA market.
Pharmaceuticals market in MENA
At close to USD 20 billion, the pharmaceuticals market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an attractive one to pharmaceutical companies in general . Patented drugs make up anywhere from 60 to 80 % of the pharmaceuticals market in total sales . The general trend is that the richer the country is, the higher the patented drug market share is. Furthermore, it is projected that the total market size will grow to just over USD 30 billion by 2016, which represents a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2011 and 2016 of over 9% . The projected CAGR for developed countries is much lower and declining. CAGR (2012-2016) in North America ranges between 1-4% while in Europe, it ranges between 0-3%.
Based on these numbers, MENA is indeed a very attractive market for innovator companies to consider when looking at expanding presence internationally. With patented drug sales of approximately USD2 billion and USD4 billion, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, respectively, are the two largest markets. On the other end, the two smallest markets, Bahrain and Oman, have patented drug sales of approximately USD0.2 billion and USD0.3 billion, respectively. These numbers are to be expected since Egypt has the highest population in the region at about 83 million and Saudi Arabia's at over 25 million . Similarly, both Bahrain and Oman have two of the smallest populations in the region with approximately 1.2 and 3 million, respectively.
In the case of Saudi Arabia, patented drugs account for over 80% of pharmaceutical sales whereas generic drugs account for less than 8%. Another example with high patented drug sales is Bahrain, where the numbers in this case are approximately 80% for patented drugs and less than 6% for generic drugs.
Jordan, on the other hand, is the only country in the region where total sales of generic drugs are higher than for patented drugs. In Jordan, generic drugs account for nearly 50% of total sales, whereas patented drugs account for about 33%. This is a result of a strong and well organized local pharmaceutical industry and a relatively low healthcare purchasing power. While Jordan's current patent law provides a 20 year patent-term and a market exclusivity period, one key aspect of the law that alleviates pressure on the local industry is the Bolar exception. This latter allows firms to develop and test a generic drug during the period of market exclusivity, and thus ensure timely delivery of a generic upon patent expiry. This provision, combined with the highly educated Jordanian pharmaceutical workforce, has also led to an increase in foreign investment in this sector. The Jordanian Patent Law is currently undergoing certain amendments which would create, for both patent owners and generic pharmaceuticals, more visibility on the patent landscape in the country.
Patenting in MENA
Over the past several years, almost every country in the MENA region has updated, revamped or introduced new patent laws. As a result, many of these laws adopted internationally accepted practices. While in the past only pharmaceutical processes were patentable, it is now possible to patent pharmaceutical products or substances. In most cases, only new chemical entities are patentable, while in others, second medical use or Swiss-type claims are allowed. In some countries, patent term extension (PTE) is possible if certain conditions are met. Morocco is one such country where a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) is issued for a period covering the number of days of delay in the event of unjustified delays by the authorities in awarding the authorization for marketing approval.
The number of MENA countries with PCT membership is increasing. So are trade agreements between those countries and the US or Europe. These open-up several opportunities for businesses looking to penetrate new markets with growth opportunities.
The procedures at the different patent offices vary substantially. In many countries, substantive examination as to novelty, inventiveness and applicability is performed locally. In some countries, the same is outsourced to foreign patent offices. What is allowed under each local patent law also varies. In Egypt for instance, it is not allowed to claim method of treating or use of a product, be it to diagnose, treat or prevent. The Egyptian Patent Office does not even allow Swiss-type claims. Such is not the case in Saudi Arabia where medical use and Swiss-type claims are allowed, while methods of treatment are not. See Table 2 below for some examples.
The third criterion whose value varies between countries and is of high importance has to do with the legal environment. This criterion includes dealing with counterfeiting and with imitators such as generic brands. Counterfeiting is a global problem and porous borders as well as inadequate border controls lead to substantial losses in sales and profits. Similarly, patent owners may be resistant to registering and penetrating a market where legal recourse against imitators is ineffective or unavailable. If we were to extrapolate on the evolution of the legal enforcement as it applies to trademarks, it is to be expected that the legal environment surrounding patents will follow suit in providing the adequate protection.
For trademarks, customs in various MENA countries have become very active. In Saudi Arabia for example, it has become increasingly difficult for an infringer to import counterfeit goods. Customs go as far as checking the Trademark Office records in cases where they suspect counterfeit consignments and ascertaining the validity of the name, brand, trademark and owner of the goods. Concerted efforts and joint planning by the Commercial Anti-Fraud Department and the Customs Authorities have led to a successful year in 2012 in fighting piracy and suspending a considerable amount of counterfeit imported into the country, including pharmaceutical products.
Other countries have updated their laws in an effort to better protect the consumer as well as enable rights holders to take actionable measures. This is the case in Egypt where IP Law no. 82 for the year 2002 introduced new provisions on enforcement against counterfeiting. In these provisions, the judges have the competence to issue provisional measures such as seizure of goods to determine infringement and preserve evidence. With regards to sanctions, this IP law increased the amount of fines and imposed new remedies. Some of these remedies include confiscation and destruction of infringing goods and the tools or equipments used in the infringement. Enforcement in Egypt was taken further by providing an IP unit in the police force as well as teams of civil inspectors who are authorized to seize infringing goods from the market.
Navigating the MENA Market
Governments have to find a balance between foreign investments and protecting their existing industry. In oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia, non-oil industries may be marginal, yet a rapidly growing market exists for the pharmaceutical sector. For oil-poor countries such as Jordan, the local pharmaceutical industry contributes considerably to the national GDP and plays a pivotal role in keeping healthcare cost low in such an economy. Understanding these dynamics is crucial when building a market strategy especially in identifying needs for intellectual property protection.
Needless to say, language barrier, doing business in MENA countries and sporadic instability may make new players reluctant to penetrate this market. Working with a local partner with both local and regional expertise and know-how can alleviate many of these concerns. Furthermore, as more MENA countries enter into bilateral free trade-type agreements with developed countries, they find themselves obligated to amend and adopt new laws.
Whether the goal is to exclude rival innovator companies, or to prevent imitators (generics) from entering the market and driving prices down, patent laws and regulations in the MENA region increasingly offer better protection. Through patenting or data exclusivity, innovator pharmaceutical companies today have the option of safely and securely penetrating the rapidly growing market of the MENA region. The necessary laws have been drafted and are being enforced gradually. Amendments to drive foreign investments as well as enhance enforcement are being made as needed. Lastly, the legal environment, while still untested, is maturing in the right direction.
