According to the minutes of the last meeting held at the Ministry of Trade & Industry on 12 January 2011, it was decided that the Yemeni Patent Office (YPO) will be given two months to examine all pending patent applications and issue their relative notices of publication. Accordingly, patent owners are requested to pay the annuities starting from the filing date once the notices of publications are issued. Extra fees will be incurred for late payment of annuities.
The new development regarding the annuity fees replaces the previous decision which requested that renewals be paid upon issuance of the Letters Patent.
As regards to examination, publication, and granting of patents, the following procedures are currently adopted at the YPO:
- Formal examination of applications, that is, whether all patent filing requirements are filed.
- Examination of claims, specifications, applicant details, inventors and other details will be searched through the WIPO database to find out whether any prior or similar patents were filed or granted
- In case no similar or previously granted patents are found, the patent application will be accepted and then forwarded to publication in the gazette for a three month opposition period.
- If no opposition is filed within the three months, the Letters Patent will be due for issuance after paying the registration fees.
For more information please send your inquiries to yemen@qumsieh.com.
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