The other day I was listening to a fellow on Saudia Radio who was from the patents division of Ministry of Health discussing patents in Saudi Arabia. Much to my astonishment the man told his interviewer that patents are a relatively foreign concept in Saudi Arabia.
Given the rich Islamic history of inventions and innovations, it was troubling to hear from a ministry official explain that securing patents is not a priority in the academic, medical and IT fields in Saudi Arabia. To be more precise, it’s not necessarily a disinterest in pursuing patents but the lack of legal expertise to secure a patent.
Saudi Arabia established the Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties and Industrial Models law in 2004. The law defines inventions as any “new article, method of manufacture, or improvement in either.” The law further says, “An invention is new only if it is not anticipated by the prior art, which covers anything disclosed to the public anywhere and at any time.”
However, Saudi inventors, particularly entrepreneurs with limited resources, are faced with the difficult task of obtaining the necessary patents to protect their work. For example, there is no intellectual property office in the Kingdom. Only the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) can register patents and industrial designs. The Ministry of Commerce can register trademarks.
The problem lies in how to protect an invention during the process of obtaining a patent. If I were to give a ruthless assessment of Saudi business practices, the theft of intellectual property is not uncommon. The ministry official noted that there are few Saudi lawyers today practicing patent law. There is no specialized training, as offered in other countries, which focus on patents and intellectual property. The necessary steps to legally protect a Saudi inventor’s work while waiting for patent approval is missing.
A lawyer versed in the generalities of Saudi commercial law but not patent law will more than likely do more harm than good. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to obtain a patent. KAST reported that 931 patents and 493 industrial design applications were made in 2010. Of those applications, KAST registered 262 patents and 412 designs.
Yet these are not huge numbers for a country that prides itself in its technological advances, academic progress and its history. And Saudi Arabia is paying the price for lagging behind other countries.
Earlier this year, the Kingdom suffered some embarrassment when foreign drug companies patented synthesizing process for the coronavirus, which prevented Saudis from using the virus in their investigation of its causes. By patenting the virus, Saudi scientists who wanted to study it had to use the foreign drug companies’ method of investigation and also pay for it. The Saudi government lost control of the virus when a scientist left Saudi Arabia with a sample and gave it to scientists in the Netherlands. Saudi scientists were not even aware that the virus had been discovered and patented.
Saudi Arabia is attempting to solve these issues. Last April, the Kingdom hosted the Second Saudi Intellectual Property Forum; although it’s telling that it’s only the second such forum to address sensitive patent and intellectual property rights issues.
But to succeed, Saudis must address the weak link of lack of legal expertise in patent issues. To do that, the legal profession must take the initiative to train its lawyers in this area.
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