IP Office of Bahrain initiates examination of patent applications

Since May 29, 2018, the Bahrain Industrial Property Office (BIPO) has been carrying out substantive examination of patent applications in Bahrain. Even though the Bahraini patent law stipulates the requirements of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability for inventions, the BIPO previously only conducted formal examination of patent applications. The BIPO have not yet established the time-frames for handling substantive examination.

Furthermore, it is also possible to obtain patent protection in the Kingdom of Bahrain through a single patent valid in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. GCC is a regional organisation which includes Bahrain along with Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Bahrain became the second country of the GCC after Saudi Arabia to start examining patent applications via the national patent office. Most of the other member countries receive their substantive examination from outside sources. For example, the Gulf Cooperation Patent Law Office uses the services of the State Intellectual Property Office of China whilst the Austrian Patent Office examines patent applications for the United Arab Emirates. In summary, Bahrain strives to improve its IP law development and enforcement to make the country more attractive to its applicants and investors.