DOHA – The Intellectual Property Rights Protection Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (the “Patent Office“) has released a new directive (circular number 2/2024) regarding the payment of patent annuity fees.
Applicants can now choose not to pay the annuity fees after the third year [from the date of filing or from the international filing date if the application is a PCT-national phase application] if the patent application is still pending. Once the Patent Office issues a grant decision, the applicant must pay all overdue annuities along with the grant fees, while the remaining subsequent annuities can be paid on their respective due dates.
For more information, please contact qatar@qumsieh.com.