Inventor can apply for temporary protection under Oman’s IPR laws

MUSCAT: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has said that the inventor could apply also for temporary protection under laws of the intellectual property rights (IPR) of Oman.

This is a service provided by the ministry to the inventor free of cost. This is to protect their innovation from any theft during their participation in various exhibitions. It said that participation in exhibitions without prior registration and availing temporary protection was considered disclosure of the invention and subjecting it to theft.

Tariq bin Nasir Al Harrasi, a patent expert at the Intellectual Property Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that inventions were protected according to the intellectual property laws of the Sultanate as a “patent”. But inventors or innovators who are not yet prepared to apply for registration with the authority concerned can get temporary protection. He pointed out that this protection makes it easy for them to participate in exhibitions, whether they are held inside the country or abroad.

He said, “The temporary protection is for six months from the date of disclosure of the invention in the exhibition. This protection is not patent. It also does not give the inventor the right to produce or market the innovation. The temporary protection in fact makes it easy for the innovator to participate in various exhibitions without being afraid of being rejection of their application for patent at the stage of technical investigation as a result of this participation. The holder of the temporary protection must register the patent application within the six-month period, otherwise the application will fall in the public domain, and here everyone can produce and market the invention without the permission and authorisation of the inventor.”