The Syrian Trademark Office has resumed the examination and acceptance of new applications, including those filed by previously restricted nationalities. While no comprehensive reforms to IP legislation have been announced, the reactivation of services signals a renewed commitment by the authorities to process and enforce registered rights within Syria’s legal framework.

Notably, while the infrastructure is functional, delays in processing and publishing remain common due to ongoing administrative limitations.

For guidance on trademark and patent filings in Syria, please contact syria@qumsieh.com.

Under the new rules, POAs are limited to a maximum validity period of five years, unless a shorter term is specified or another reason terminates the POA earlier. All notarised POAs must now explicitly state their expiration date, although expiry of notarisation does not impact the legal relationship between the parties.

Additionally, POAs issued prior to the effective date of this decree will remain valid for two years from the effective date.

The updated regulation excludes commercial agency contracts, as well as other cases that may be exempted by decision of the Minister of Justice.

For further clarification on how this may affect your IP-related POAs or filings in Kuwait, please contact kuwait@qumsieh.com.

The new guidelines stipulate the following:

• The PoA must contain the seal and stamp of the issuing notary;
• PoAs are valid for three (3) years only. To ensure their validity, older PoAs must be stamped by the Ministry of Justice in Qatar;
• If the PoA is not drafted in Arabic, then a certified Arabic translation is required by a certified translator;
• PoAs issued by the Qatari Embassies/Consulates abroad must be attested to by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and
• PoAs issued by foreign notaries abroad must be stamped by the Embassy/Consulate of the issuing country in Qatar and then attested to by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

If you require more information, please contact qatar@qumsieh.com.

The Decree was published in the Official Gazette number 31(B) on 6 August 2022, where EAIP should be structured and start its operations within a year from the publication date, i.e., 6 August 2023.

EAIP will replace the General Administration of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Models of the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade in relation to all IP matters and will fulfil its duties. It will handle all IP-related transactions and become the point of contact for applicants and agents regarding new filings, renewals, recordals, and so on.

For more information, please contact egypt@qumsieh.com.

The new regulation stipulates that powers of attorney must revoke all prior authorisations. Further, only one local agent can be responsible for all trademarks in the same owner’s name.

The above will become effective on 1 January 2023.

For more information, please contact palestine@qumsieh.com.

PoAs and other required documents no longer need to be legalised by the Consulate of the UAE, i.e., notarization of the same will suffice.

A stamp of a UAE public entity (e.g. government organisations, national universities) is now regarded as equivalent to notarization.

In addition, if the inventor is an employee of a UAE company, it is possible to submit a certificate of employment or a copy of the employment contract instead of the deed of assignment.

For more information, please contact uae@qumsieh.com.

For more information, please contact iraq@qumsieh.com.

Under this convention, an apostille stamp is given by certain authorities in the country of origin of the document. This stamp is sufficient for certification and use in other member states of this convention.

The decision was enacted by Royal Decree number M/40 dated 26/05/1443 Hijri (equivalent to 30 December 2021) and was published in the Official Gazette number 4916 dated 4/6/1443 Hijri (equivalent to 7 January 2022).

For more information, please contact saudi-arabia@qumsieh.com.

As a result, trademark legal actions may be pursued through SAIP’s platform and its online portal as of 15 August 2021.

For more information, please contact saudi-arabia@qumsieh.com.

The effective date of this is 7 July 2021.

For more information, please contact egypt@qumsieh.com.