Kuwait IP Lawyers

Municipality conducted extensive anti-piracy raid

Sunil Jose — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:46:39 +0000

Local daily, Arab Times reported on Nov 20, 2009 that Municipality Branch of Mubarak Al-Kabir Governorate confiscated and destroyed 1,38,000 CDs and DVDs during the last three months.

Where should you file an infringement action ?

Sunil Jose — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:06:56 +0000

A civil/criminal infringement action should be brought before the Court of First Instance. The case will be transferred to Civil or Commercial or Commercial-criminal Courts (according to the subject matter). It may take upto one year till a judgment is issued.

The decision of First Instance Court can be challenged before the Court of Appeals within one month from the date of decision of First Instance Court. The Appeal judgement is obtained usually within 6-8 months of filing the appeal.

The decision of Court of Appeals can be challenged before Court of Cassation within thirty days from the date of Appeal Court Judgement. An aggrieved party may approach the Court of Cassation against the decision of Court of Appeals on grounds that the contested judgment was in violation of law or there was error in the application or interpretation of law or that there were invalid procedures which influenced the judgment.

Customs seized fake products

Sunil Jose — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:36:32 +0000

Local dailies reported the seizure of fake products by General Customs Office during last week of October.

Officials of General Customs Department under the supervision of Mr. Osama Al-Shami ( Head of IPR Department foiled an attempt by a local company to import counterfeit goods including bags and sports goods. The counterfeit goods carried the trademark of an internationally known company.

The IPR Department of General Customs has taken great efforts in reducing imports of countefeit goods. Its possible for trademark owners to adopt various measures to protect their rights in trademarks.

Oman is set to be a UPOV member

Sunil Jose — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:54:19 +0000

Sultanate of Oman has acceded to the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. On November 22, 2009 the Convention will enter into force with respect to Oman and it will become a member of UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) founded by the said International Convention.

UPOV Notification No. 109

Kuwait: Registration of trademark may be subject to restrictions.

Sunil Jose — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:16:21 +0000

According to the Kuwait Commercial Code, the Registrar may issue a decision accepting or refusing the registration. In case of acceptance, the Registrar shall determine whatever limitations he considers necessary.

Trademarks: Preliminary examination report can be challenged in Court

Sunil Jose — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:43:19 +0000

Registrar’s decision to reject a trademark application may be appealed by the applicant to the court, within thirty days from the date of such notification. The court may confirm, quash or amend the decision. If the applicant fails to appeal against the decision within the prescribed time, he shall be deemed to have abandoned the application.

Registrations: Transliterations vis-a-vis translations

Sunil Jose — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 09:40:47 +0000

The issue of transliterations as well as translations of registered trademarks are significant issues in Kuwait where almost all the products of international companies carry Arabic labels also. In majority of the cases, both the English mark and transliteration appears on the same label or on different labels on different sides of same product (in English and Arabic). It is assumed that transliterations are automatically protected once the flagship mark in English is registered.

In some cases we advise clients to register transliterations. For example, if the client intends to use the Arabic transliterations extensively and independent from its Flagship mark in English.

Another situation is when an average customer identifies the product or service through the transliterated mark and such transliteration eventually creates a brand identity for a section of local customers.

We evaluate the situations case by case basis and advise the clients whether the transliterations should be separately registered or not.

Our redesigned website

Sunil Jose — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:11:55 +0000

We have redesigned our website. Click here to review the site.

More informative articles and news will follow.

We would like to hear your comments.

counterfeiting and infringement proceedings in Kuwait

Sunil Jose — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:47:14 +0000

The relevant statute under which counterfeiting and infringement proceedings are instituted in Kuwait is Kuwait Commercial Code (Law No. 68 of 1980.) The Code stipulates the procedure and penalties for infringement of trademark.

use of R-in-a-circle symbol (®)

Sunil Jose — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:36:24 +0000

Kuwait trademark law does not contain specific provisions regarding the use of R-in-a-circle symbol (®) or any other symbols to indicate that mark is registered. Therefore such use is left to the choice of registered owner.