Patent registration in the Syrian Arab Republic. Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia. Syria is a unitary republic consisting of 14 governorates and is the only country that politically espouses Ba’athism. The economy is highly regulated by the government, which has increased subsidies and tightened trade controls. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including the majority Syrian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Mandaeans, and Greeks. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Patent in Syrian Arab Republic
According to Syrian Arab Republic law, a patent in this country is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in Syrian Arab Republic, an invention must satisfy the requirement of new, inventive, and industrially applicability.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
On the other hand, the subjects that are unpatentable in Syrian Arab Republic are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Pharmaceuticals and chemical compounds are also subjects that are not patentable under the Syrian Patent Law.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Syrian Arab Republic
The necessary documents for patent registration in Syrian Arab Republic include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s names, addresses, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The procedure for patent registration in Syrian Arab Republic
To obtain a patent in Syrian Arab Republic, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the IP Office of Syrian Arab Republic.
Besides the traditional national filing method, applicants can also choose to protect their IP rights by filing through the PCT.
The documents needed for the PCT patent registration should be attached with an Arabic translation.
If accepted, 1st publication of the patent application transpires for six months. If granted, the 2nd publication of the patent certificate will occer. The registration fees of the patent should be paid in full to receive the patent certificate.
The annuities for maintaining the validity of the patent should be paid yearly. If the patentee misses the annually annuities, he/she will be provided with a 3 month grace period to pay the missing annuities, along with a surcharge of late payment.
A patent in Syria has a 20-year validity as from the international filing date for patent applications under PCT and also for national filing.
You can see a list of the Syrian Arab Republic IP firms here.