Intellectual Property
Trademarks are regulated in Bahrain by Law No. 6 of 2014 ratifying the GCC Trademarks Law, and the GCC Trademarks Implementing Regulations adopted by Decision No. 65 of 2016.
Bahrain is a member of the Madrid Protocol and the Madrid Agreement.
Also, Bahrain is bound by the Paris Convention since 1997 and all agreements incorporated into the TRIPS agreement since its accession to the World Trade Organization in 1995.
No, having an actual business registered in Bahrain, or even having a distributor or reseller in the country is not a prerequisite to protecting your trademark rights, and foreign companies may register trademarks in Bahrain.
Trademark searches are not mandatory. However, searching the database of for previously registered or applied for trademarks is highly advisable. Failure to identify a previously filed conflicting trademark may pose a challenge to your application by way of a refusal issued by the Trademark Office or an opposition filed by a third party.
Furthermore, trademark clearances must not only take into consideration any preexisting trademark registrations or applications, It should also consider marks that are is use and marks that may conflict with pre existing company and trade names. Therefore, online general search and trade name search are also recommended.
Yes, registering a trademark in the name of an individual is permissible.
However, other jurisdictions may not allow registering a trademark in the name of an individual, and it is advisable to have uniform ownership throughout the world. Therefore, it may be recommended to register the trademark in the name of a corporate entity, allowing that entity to act as propriety holder for a number of rights and signing agreements to exploit those rights by way of licenses.
Choosing a trademark is an important decision that should be properly assessed in consultation with your trademark attorney. Depending on the nature of the trademark and how it is used, it may be recommended to register variation of the trademark to obtain wider protection. Some trademark assets must be separated into several trademark applications in order to ensure a mark is properly secured against third party claims or threats of infringements.
Bahrain is not a multi-class registration. Hence each class should be filed under a separate application, and goods or services must be designated pursuant to the international classification of Nice Agreement.
After filing the application to register a specific trademark in a specific class, the Trademark Office examines the application on absolute and relative grounds and determines whether the application should be accepted or not.
In case of imposing any conditions by the Trademark Office, the applicant can either accept the conditions within 90 days from notification, or file an appeal against the decision before the Appeal Committee within 60 days from notification. Once the application is accepted, it proceeds to publication in the Trademarks Official Gazette. Any interested party may file an opposition against the application within 60 days of publication. In the absence of any opposition, or if the opposition is rejected, the application matures to registration. It should be noted that each step which requires paying an official has a specific deadline for such payment. Missing any payment deadline would lead to considering the application abandoned.
If a trademark application is opposed, the Registrar at the Trademark Office notifies the applicant of the opposition. The applicant has 60 days (from the day of notification) to respond to the opposition, failure to respond to the opposition will result in the application considered as abandoned. Before the issuance of the decision, either party may request a hearing session to submit further evidences or statements to support its case. The Trademark Office then examines all the submissions and issues a decision to the opposition.
According to Trademarks Law, trademark infringement is a crime that is punishable by imprisonment for a period not less than one month and not exceeding three years and/or fine not less than 5000 Saudi Riyals and not exceeding 1 Million Saudi Riyals or its equivalent in Bahraini Dinars, in addition to compensation for any damage occurred due to the infringement.
Law No. 22 of 2006 on the Protection of Copyright and Neighboring Rights (Copyright Law)
Copyright Law provides protection for authors of original literary and artistic works, irrespective of the value, quality, purpose or mode of expression of these works. Protection shall cover the following works:
Books, pamphlets and other writings;
Works delivered orally such as lectures, addresses, sermons or similar works such as poems and hymns;
Dramatic and dramatic-musical works;
Musical works, whether or not they include accompanying words;
Choreographic works and pantomimes;
Audio-visual works;
Photographic and similar works;
Works of applied art, whether hand-made or produced on an industrial scale;
Works of drawing and painting with lines and colors, architecture, sculpture, decorated arts, engravings, sketches, designs and three-dimensional geographic or topographic works
Computer programs.
The protection shall also cover the Title of the work where this is innovative
Failure to register a work or the relevant Neighboring Rights thereto shall have no effect on the protection of such work under the Copyright Law. A copyright registration only serves as an assumption of ownership from the date of the deposit, which can be proven otherwise. However, registration is usually helpful as a proof of ownership in case of enforcement.
Unauthorized use of copyright is punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than 3 months and not more than one year and/or a fine not less than 500 BD and not more than 4,000 BD.
