News & insights

MENA: Live Updates of IP Offices in Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic

January 14, 2021

As governments begin easing travel restrictions in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we are witnessing the reopening of several Intellectual Property Offices in the Middle East and North Africa region. With this update, we want to assure you that our main priority remains to ensure the safety and well-being of our people, families, clients, and the communities in which we live and work.

In order to ensure an uninterrupted service, you may send all your instructions, queries, and documents directly to your account managers and the people you are corresponding with at the offices concerned. We will docket all the instructions we receive from you, prepare all the required forms, and diarize all approaching deadlines in order to ensure proper follow-up and organization.

This article is being updated regularly. All new information is below.

Country	PTO Status	Deadlines	Submission of Original Documents & POAs	Last Updated
Afghanistan	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	Scanned copies of documentation and simply signed POAs are accepted	November 30, 2020
Algeria	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	PTO is operating/simply signed POAs are usually accepted	November 30, 2020
Bahrain	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	All documents are submitted online	November 30, 2020
Cyprus	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	A scanned copy of the documents and simply signed POAs are usually accepted	November 30, 2020
Djibouti	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	Usual procedure – original documents should be available at the time of filing .A simply signed POA is usually required	November 30, 2020
Ethiopia	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	TMO will be flexible in accepting the soft copies of the same and later originals to follow	November 30, 2020
Egypt	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	The Trademark and Patent Offices are accepting scanned documents and simply signed copies of POAs along with an email from the client or/attorney proving The difficulty of legalizing the required POAs. (Original documents should be submitted whenever possible)	December 20, 2020
Gaza	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	Extension of time is acceptable due to the current situation. Simply signed POAs are usually acceptable	November 30, 2020
Gulf Cooperation Council	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	All documents are submitted online	November 30, 2020
Iraq	Partially Operating (Accepting few new filings and issuing few examination reports)	Deadlines have been extended until further notice	Documents can be submitted within 6 months from filing date	November 30, 2020
Iraq (Kurdish Region)	Operational	No extension announced yet	Documents can be submitted within 6 months from filing date	January 11, 2021
Jordan	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	All documents should be submitted	November 30, 2020
Kuwait	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	All documents should be submitted once the PTO re-opens	November 30, 2020
Lebanon	The Trademark and Patent Office suspended all operations until January 25, 2021	No rights held at the time of the lockdown shall lapse	Legalized POAs and documents are still required; but simply signed e-copies are accepted. No official notification about the submission of original documents.	January 12, 2021
Libya	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	Original documents can be submitted online or otherwise sent by courier	November 30, 2020
Morocco	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	Simply signed POAs are usually used. Recordal assignment and merger will be filed later on, because the related documents should be submitted at the PTO	November 30, 2020
Oman	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	All documents should be submitted	November 30, 2020
Pakistan	Operational	No extension announced	All documents should be submitted	November 30, 2020
Qatar	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	All original documents required to support new filing, oppositions, and responding to office actions	November 30, 2020
Saudi Arabia	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	Filing can be done with colored scanned copies	November 30, 2020
Sudan	Operational	No extension announced yet	Usual procedure – soft copies followed by originals. A simply signed POA is usually required	November 30, 2020
Tanzania	Operational	No extension announced yet	Original documents can be submitted online or otherwise sent by courier	November 30, 2020
Tunisia	Operational	No extension announced yet	TMO will be flexible during this period. A simply signed POA is usually required	November 30, 2020
UAE	Operational	No extension announced yet	Original documents can be submitted online or otherwise sent by courier	November 30, 2020
West Bank	Operational	Extensions are no longer applicable	A simply signed copy of POA is sufficient and the original may be submitted within three months from the filing date. Due to the current situation, more than one extension of time is acceptable	November 30, 2020
Yemen	Operational	No extension announced yet	Original documents should be submitted once received without late surcharges, simply signed copies of the required documents are sufficient at this stage (original documents should be submitted whenever possible)	November 30, 2020
Zanzibar	Operational	No extension announced yet	Original documents can be submitted online or otherwise sent by courier	November 30, 2020

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Should you have any questions, or require any additional information on the above, please contact us at support@sabaip.com