The Bahrain Industry and Commerce Ministry has signed a cooperation agreement with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, to apply the fast-track system for technical examination of patents (PPH).

The minister has emphasised that this agreement will further enhance the Kingdom’s patents and intellectual property sector.

He has highlighted Bahrain’s position in preserving and protecting all types of intellectual property and patent rights, which contributes to increasing the flow of investments.

The agreement comes as part of the plan to develop the regulatory and procedural framework related to the registration of intellectual property and patents in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The agreement will allow accelerating technical examination procedures of patent applications.

It will also improve cooperation with the US Patent Office and facilitate the exchange of the latest findings on patent applications filed with the Bahrain Patent Office.

Additionally, the agreement will promote the exchange of expertise in managing patent offices and procedures for examination and grants.

It aims to raise the quality of the reports of the Bahraini National Office and prevent conflicts in technical results with major international patent offices.

This also includes increasing revenues related to filing patent applications and examining them technically.

The fast-track system supports applicants approved by international patent offices, including the US Patent Office.

It will accelerate the procedures for granting patents in the Kingdom.

This will be based on the examination reports issued by the five major international government offices proposed for bilateral contracting through this agreement.

The system also aims to provide an attractive environment for regional and international investments, in addition to enabling the examination of patent applications filed with the Bahrain Patent Office, especially in cases where a specialised patent examiner is not available.

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