Requirements

Trademark Registration: 

• The registration process takes 12-15 months to be completed.
• A separate application should be filed for each class.
• The application will be examined by the TMO within a period of 1 to 2 months. After the end of the examination period, the TMO will issue a decision to either:
  • Accept the application, the publication fees should be settled within 60 days from the official notification date to publish the mark in the official gazette and a local newspaper, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn.
  • Conditionally accept the application, you may appeal the decision or comply with the said conditions within a period of 60 days from the official notification date, otherwise the application would be considered withdrawn.
  • Reject the application, you may appeal the decision within a period of 60 days from the official notification date, otherwise the application would be considered withdrawn.
• Any interested third party can oppose the publication of the trademark application within 60 days from the date of publication in the official gazette. The applicant has 60 days from date of official notification to file a reply to the opposition, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn.
• The certificate of registration will be issued within 1-2 months from the date of settlement of registration fees.
• The Certificate will be published in a local newspaper after its issuance for informative purposes only.
• The trademark's registration is valid for 10 Gregorian years, starting from the filing date, and renewable for similar consecutive periods.

Trademark Renewal: 

• The renewal process takes 2 to 3 months to be completed.
• A separate application should be filed for each class.
• The renewal application should be filed within the last year of the valid protection period.
• A 6 months grace period after the expiry of the valid protection period is granted for filing late renewal; however it is subject to late penalty fees.
• After recording the renewal in the TMO database within 1 month from filing the renewal application, you may proceed with settling the publication fees to publish the renewal in the official gazette.
• The publication in the official gazette is for informative purposes only; No one can oppose the said publication.
• The renewal certificate will be issued within 1 week from the date of publication.
• The trademark renewal is valid for another 10 Gregorian consecutive years starting from the expiry of the previous protection period.

Trademark Change of Name and/or Address: 

• The recordal of change process takes 2 to 3 months to be completed.
• A separate application should be filed for each class.
• A change of agent should be filed in order to ensure formality requirements are met.
• After recording the change in the TMO database within 1 month from filing the change application, you may proceed with settling the publication fees to publish the change in the official gazette.
• The publication in the official gazette is for informative purposes only; No one can oppose the said publication.
• The change certificate will be issued within 1 week from the date of publication.

Trademark Assignment: 

• The recordal of the assignment takes 2 to 3 months to be completed.
• A separate application should be filed for each class. 
• A change of agent should be filed in order to ensure formality requirements are met. 
• After recording the assignment in the TMO database within 1 month from filing the assignment application, you may proceed with settling the publication fees to publish the assignment in the official gazette.
• The publication in the official gazette is for informative purposes only; No one can oppose the said publication.
• The assignment certificate will be issued within 1 week from the date of publication.

Patent Registration: 

• The patent registration process takes 4-5 years.
• After filing the application, the application is put on hold for 6 months until all required documents and information are fulfilled.
• The applicant has an option to either settle the technical examination fees upon filing along with the filing fees or within 6 months from the filing date.
• After 6 months from the filing date, the application will formally be examined to check if all the required documents were submitted and related filing, annuities, and technical examination fees were settled. Then, the application will be put on hold again till its turn comes up for technical and legal examination.
• Once the application is technically and legally examined, the Examiner will issue his decision to either:
  • Complete or amend the application: the applicant has 90 days from the official notification date to reply to proceed with the examination of application.
  • Reject the application: if the requirements were not met or the patent is non-registrable. The applicant has 15 days from the official notification date to appeal the decision before the Appeal Committee.
  • Accept the application: the applicant has to settle the publication fees to publish the application in the official gazette. The patent office will notify the applicant when the said application will be published.
• Any interested third party can oppose the said application within 60 days from the date of publication. The Patent Office will study the opposition and issue its decision within 30 days from filing date of opposition; otherwise the opposition will be considered rejected implicitly.
• Once the application passes the publication period successfully, the registration fees should be settled to issue the related certificate of registration.
• The protection period of a patent is 20 years, from the filing date of the PCT application, or the national patent application based on Paris Convention.

Patent Annuities: 

• A patent is protected for 20 years from the filing date.
• Annuities should be settled prior to the anniversary of the filing date of a national application or a PCT international application until the termination of the patent protection duration. For example: if the patent was filed on 30 January, then the annuity should be settled every year prior to 30 January.
• The applicant should settle the annuity starting from the second year of filing the national application according to Paris Convention.
• The applicant should settle all due annuities starting from the second year of filing the PCT application until the date of filing the application in the national phase in Qatar upon filing the application.  
• Penalty fees will be applied if the applicant misses settling the annuity prior to deadline, however this is pending for the moment until issuance of the related regulations.

Design Registration: 

• The registration process takes up to 3 months to be completed.
• A single application must be filed per design.
• The application will be examined by the TMO within a period of 1 week. After the end of the examination period, the TMO will issue a decision to either:
  • Amend the application, the applicant has 90 days from the official notification date to amend the design as requested, otherwise the application will be rejected.
  • Reject the application, you may appeal the decision within a period of 90 days from the official notification date, otherwise the application would be considered withdrawn.
  • Accept the application, the registration fees should be settled within 90 days from the official notification date, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn.
• The design's registration is valid for 10 Hijri years which is equivalent to 9.8 Gregorian years, starting from the filing date, and is non-renewable.

Design Renewal: 

• NA - Nonrenewable

Design Annuities: 

• An annual fee shall be paid starting from the year following the application filing date by the beginning of each year between January and March.
• A 3 month grace period is given to the applicant to settle the annuity fee, not subject to any late penalty fees.
• If the applicant fails to settle the annuity fee within the first grace period, another 3 months grace period will be given to settle the annuity fee, however is subject to late penalty fee. 

Trademark Registration: 

• The registration process takes 3-4 months to be completed.
• A separate application should be filed for each class.
• The application will be examined by the TMO within a period of 1 week. After the end of the examination period, the TMO will issue a decision to either:
  • Accept the application, the publication fees should be settled within 30 days from the official notification date, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn.
  • Amend the application, the applicant has 10 days from the official notification date to amend the mark as requested, otherwise the application will be rejected. However, the applicant may appeal the said decision within a period of 60 days from the official notification date.
  • Reject the application, you may appeal the decision within a period of 60 days from the official notification date, otherwise the application would be considered withdrawn.
• Any interested third party can oppose the publication of the trademark application within 60 days from the date of publication. The applicant has 30 days from the official notification date to file a reply to the opposition, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn.
• The applicant has 30 days from the end of publication period date to settle the registration fees, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn.
• The certificate of registration will be issued within 1 week from the date of settlement of registration fees.
• The trademark's registration is valid for 10 Hijri years which is equivalent to 9.8 Gregorian years, starting from the filing date, and renewable for similar consecutive periods.

Trademark Renewal: 

• The renewal process takes 1-2 weeks to be completed.
• A separate application should be filed for each class.
• The renewal application should be filed within the last year of the valid protection period.
• A 6 months grace period after the expiry of the valid protection period is granted for filing late renewal, however it is subject to late penalty fees.
• After filing the renewal application, the renewal certificate will be issued within 1 week.
• The renewal certificate will be published in the official gazette for informative purposes only; No one can oppose the said publication.
• The trademark renewal is valid for another 10 consecutive Hijri years which is equivalent to 9.8 Gregorian years starting from the expiry of the previous protection period.

Trademark Change of Name and/or Address: 

• The recordal of change process takes 1-2 weeks to be completed.
• A separate application should be filed for each class.
• A change of agent should be filed in order to ensure formality requirements are met.
• After filing the change application, the change certificate will be issued within 1 week.
• The change will be published in the official gazette for informative purposes only; No one can oppose the said publication.

Trademark Assignment: 

• The assignment process takes 1-2 weeks to be completed.
• A separate application should be filed for each class.
• A change of agent should be filed in order to ensure formality requirements are met.
• After filing the assignment application, the assignment certificate will be issued within 1 week.
• The assignment will be published in the official gazette for informative purposes only; No one can oppose the said publication.