Paradigm Shift In The Kingdom's Intellectual Property Landscape

There have been a number of recent developments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the KSA) as part of a broader drive to promote the intellectual property landscape and offer increased protection of intellectual property rights. Such developments have included:

• the establishment of the Saudi Intellectual Property Authority (SAIP);
• the introduction of copyright recordal under the new Regulation for Optional Registration of Copyright Works; and
• a recent announcement that the commercial courts will hear copyright and patent related cases.

These developments reaffirms the KSA's (and SAIP's) commitment to raising awareness and knowledge around the importance of intellectual property as part of its Vision 2030.