Steps to register a trademark in Saudi Arabia

The steps for registering a trademark in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are important topics that anyone interested in trade should be aware of, as without this registration process you expose your trademark to many risks and your legal status will not be sound. The Saudi legislator, in the Trademarks Law, has allocated a set of important chapters and procedures that every Saudi citizen must resort to in order to register his trademark in the Kingdom. In general, through tonight’s topic, we will address all aspects of the subject in detail, where we will start with a definition of a trademark first, followed by all the necessary procedures or steps for registering it.

  Abdulaziz bin Yasser Al-Anzi Law Firm

What is the brand?

A trademark can be defined as a logo, symbol, or indicator used by a company, individual, organization, or possibly a legal entity, with the purpose of representing the type of products or services it offers to the public, i.e., the consumer. Trademarks are created to distinguish products or services from one another.

How to register a trademark in Saudi Arabia

In the introduction to our topic, we stated that registering your trademark is one of the important things you should resort to in order for your business to be in a sound position, and in the following paragraph we will point out all the steps you need to go through in order to register it.

The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property is the approved platform for registering trademarks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all matters related to intellectual property such as registering patents, industrial designs, and others.

After you fill in the required and basic information for registration, through which you will have to pay the registration fees, after you make the payment, your application will be studied within a maximum of seven days, and if your trademark is accepted, it will be published after a week for sixty days.

As for the final step, it comes after the trademark publication period ends, during which you must pay your trademark protection fees. After that, you will be able to print its certificate electronically without needing to visit the branch.

The importance of trademark registration in Saudi Arabia

Registering a trademark in Saudi Arabia or any other region of the world remains a very important and indispensable step. If you are wondering why or what is the importance of this, simply put, when you choose a trademark that you dedicate to your project or the services or products you offer, you make them known to the public. That is, the trademark creates a distinctiveness for the services you provide. For example, Samsung or Nokia phones or Starbucks cafes, their trademarks are what make us distinguish them from each other. Also, through owning your trademark, you can highlight the advantages that you have in your products and services and make the consumer know that he is buying the best. The trademark can be anything, whether it is an image, logo, word, name, or even a musical note. It is preferable that the trademark be indicative of what you offer products and services in order to contribute to your reputation.

What are the trademark fees in Saudi Arabia?

Registering a trademark in Saudi Arabia is not free; there are a number of government fees that the applicant must pay. A trademark is what contributes to promoting and disseminating your goods or products to the public, giving them a distinctive mark or identifier. Therefore, the registration process is somewhat rigorous and also involves fees. Regarding trademark registration fees in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi legislator has specified them as follows:

- Tuition fees are one thousand Saudi Riyals.

- Trademark publication fees are one thousand five hundred Saudi Riyals for citizens and three thousand Saudi Riyals for foreigners, in addition to value-added tax.

- As for issuing the trademark certificate, it costs five thousand Saudi Riyals and is valid for ten years, renewable.

Distinguishing the brand from other terms.

Many people confuse the trademark with other terms such as the trade name, business address, or other things. For this purpose, we have decided to dedicate the next paragraph to pointing out the difference between the trademark and other terms.

Brand and trade name

One of the most common mistakes people make is thinking that the trade name is the same as the trademark. This is wrong. As we mentioned in the introduction, the trademark is the mark, symbol, or logo that the business owner creates to distinguish the services or products he offers in the market, while the trade name is one of the basic elements of the business and its ownership belongs to its use, while the trademark belongs to the one who registered it. Also, we find that the trademark is mostly placed on products and goods, whether by sticking it on, or as a stamp or printing, while the trade name is placed on the front of the business in writing, and one of its conditions is that it be large and clear to the public.

Brand and business address

There is also a significant difference between a trademark and a business address. There is a vast difference between the two, as a business address is an innovative sign or name used to distinguish the business from the public, while although a trademark may be a symbol, logo, or name, its main purpose is not to distinguish the business but to distinguish the goods and services that the business owner offers to the public.

Brand and Trademark

Saudi law has also been explicit in pointing out the difference between a trademark and a commercial statement, as the latter is a statement made by the merchant in his personal capacity, through which he shows the type of his trade, the quantity he has, and all the information about it. This is why it is called a statement, and it is not in any way similar to a trademark, as it extends from merely advertising the type of product to its quantity, description, and purpose, i.e., it focuses on the characteristics of the product or service provided.

What are the different types of trademarks?

According to the commercial law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a trademark is of two types or categories, which are as follows.

collective brand

The latter is used to distinguish products or services from others, and the trademark belongs to members who are affiliated with a particular group or entity, which may be a company with a legal personality or a particular project.

Temporary brand

The second category is the temporary trademark. This type of trademark is often used to showcase a particular product or service at international or national exhibitions. Its duration often does not exceed six months. In the case of a temporary trademark, the trader has the freedom to choose its type and form, provided that it does not violate the law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

What are the trademark requirements in Saudi law?

In order for a trademark to be properly and legally registered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a set of basic conditions must be met, which are as follows:

To have a distinctive mark

This condition means that the brand must have something distinctive that makes it unlike other brands, that is, it must be unique, whether it is an image, a logo, or a tone.

To have the quality of a grandmother

The second condition is that the brand you have chosen must be characterized by novelty, or more precisely, that the brand must not have been used before, meaning that it must be new and from your own origin. This condition does not have to be absolute, but rather relative.

To be a legitimate trademark

The third and final condition for the validity of a trademark according to the law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is that the trademark must be legitimate, meaning that it must not violate public order and morals or harm Islamic law.

Cases in which trademark registration is not permitted

Saudi law, in the area of trademarks, has established a set of cases in which the registration of these trademarks is not permitted, and these can be indicated in the following points:

- A brand that does not contain a distinctive feature.

- Any trademark that contains anything offensive to religion, or any trademark that resembles a religious symbol or religious sanctity, may not be registered in any way.

Any symbol or trademark that contains a violation of morals or public order in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may not be registered.

- All logos, whether symbols, names, or others that are similar to the symbols of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are also not allowed to be registered.

- Any image of another person or in their property that they have not expressly authorized to be used may also not be registered or converted into a trademark.

- The symbol of the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, or any of the symbols of similar organizations may not be imitated or registered as a trademark.

- Those signs that resemble any other sign have a very high level of fame, whether in Saudi Arabia or in the world, as this is considered a form of imitation.

- All official emblems of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, such as the state flag, for example.

In general, trademark registration remains essential if you want your business to be legal and also to protect your trademark and prevent imitation. Registration will also give you a reputation in the market and make people more aware of your products or services.

  Abdulaziz bin Yasser Al-Anzi Law Firm What are you waiting for?Contact us