How Much Does it Cost to Obtain a Patent in Bahrain?

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Published on 23 July 2019

The Bahraini economy is on a roll, with a 138% spike in Foreign Direct Investment inflows in the first nine months of 2018. In this article, we shall delve into the costs of protecting inventions and innovations (i.e., the costs of obtaining a patent) in the island nation in the Middle East that is revered for its high quality pearls with a unique luster.

The Bahraini Economy

The Bahraini economy had a Gross Domestic Product ("GDP") of US $70.948 Billion in 2017, with petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting, iron pelletization, and fertilizers being the four pillars that steer the economy. Like its neighbors in the Middle East, petroleum production and refining are very much at the heart of the economy, and account for "more than 60% of exports, 70% of Government revenues, and 11% of the GDP."

However, given the roller coaster ride that oil prices have experienced over the past several years, the nation is trying to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify the economy in a bid to stabilize the economy. This has resulted in the creation of the "Economic Vision 2030 for Bahrain." An example of such diversification is the encouragement of financial technology research through a "regulatory sandbox", which allows companies to experiment without facing normal regulatory constraints.

Patent Legislation in Bahrain

Patent filing and registration in Bahrain are governed by the Patents and Utility Models Law No. 1 of 2004, which was subsequently amended by Law No. 14 of 2006.

The Industrial Property Directorate under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism, headquartered in the capital city of Manama, is the statutory body that oversees the administration of the Patent legislation.

Patent System in Bahrain

Patent protection in Bahrain can be obtained either through the national patent route or the regional patent route. A national patent application may be filed directly in Bahrain or through the relevant WIPO-administered treaties: the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Bahrain is also a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council ("GCC"), which is a regional organization that also comprises of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. Through the GCC Patent Office ("GCCPO"), the GCC offers a centralized system for obtaining a patent in all its six member states. Unlike some other regional patent organizations, there is no requirement of designating member states of interest (either at the time of filing or at the time of grant) or validating a granted patent in the member states of interest. Further, despite the GCCPO not being a signatory of either the Paris Convention or the Patent Cooperation Treaty, an applicant may claim priority to an earlier filed application as if the GCCPO was a member state of the Paris Convention.

Patent Filings in Bahrain

In the year 2017, the Bahraini Industrial Property Directorate received close to 250 patent applications, while about 1,850 patent applications were filed with the GCC Patent Office. These figures are based on the World Intellectual Property Indicators 2018 report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization and the statistics published by the GCC Patent Office on its website.

Patent Protection Costs in Bahrain

Let us now study the costs involved in obtaining and maintaining a patent in Bahrain. Since a patent is typically maintained for at least six to ten years, we shall consider the costs from March 2019 through March 2029. There are three categories of costs involved: official fees, attorney charges, and translation costs.

For the purposes of this article, we shall consider a patent specification drafted in English, which is to be filed in Bahrain with a single priority claim, by a company to which the patent filing rights in Bahrain have been assigned. We shall further consider that 35 pages are to be translated into Arabic and that three documents require legalization.

For the above scenario, the total costs to file a patent application, get the patent issued, and renew the patent are approximately US $22,500. As shown in Table 1, the estimated costs are spread across the five different stages of the patenting process: Filing, Examination, Prosecution, Grant, and Maintenance Fees/Renewal Fees/Annuities. The costs are inclusive of Value Added Tax, which has been added to the attorney charges and translation costs.

Patent Filing Costs and Patent Specification Translation Costs

The estimated patent filing costs are inclusive of the attorney charges for handling the priority claim, the attorney charges for handling the legalization process, and the attorney charges for recording an assignment with the Bahraini Patent Office.

Translation of the patent specification into the official language is mandatory in Bahrain. The estimated costs of translating the patent specification into Arabic are approximately US $1,176. When expressed as a percentage of the total patent filing costs, the translation costs are about 32% of the total patent filing costs.

Patent Prosecution Costs, Translation Costs, and Patent Grant Costs

The estimated patent prosecution costs are based on the issuance of more than one office action with substantive objections. These costs are inclusive of the attorney charges for reporting each office action, preparing a response to each office action, and processing the response to each office action.

As is the case with patent filing, translation is also required during patent prosecution in Bahrain. Assuming 10 pages of translation per prosecution action, the estimated translation costs are approximately US $504. When expressed as a percentage of the total patent prosecution costs, the translation costs are about 29% of the total patent prosecution costs.

There is an official patent publication and grant fee that is to be paid to the Bahraini Patent Office upon its decision to grant a patent.

Patent Maintenance Fees in Bahrain

In Bahrain, no patent maintenance fees are payable towards a pending patent application. The accumulated patent maintenance fees (if any) for the second year through the year in which the patent has been granted are additionally payable along with the patent grant fee. Subsequent patent maintenance fees are payable on an annual basis in advance, with the due date for payment being the date of filing of the patent application.

Recent Changes to Official Patent Fees

On December 13, 2018, the Bahraini Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism published the implementing regulations under the Ministerial Decision 101 of 2018 for the Patents and Utility Models Law No. 1/2004. The regulations, which have already come into force, stipulated an exponential increase in the official fees for various patent related services, with the magnitude of increase ranging between 2.5 times and 9 times.

After the regulations came into force, the official patent filing fee, which was 80 Bahraini Dinar (approximately US $212) for a legal entity, zoomed to 540 Bahraini Dinar (approximately US $1,432). Likewise, the official patent publication and grant fee, which was 100 Bahraini Dinar (approximately US $265), increased to 320 Bahraini Dinar (approximately US $850). While the official patent maintenance fee for the second year was increased by 2.5 times, the official patent maintenance fee for the twentieth year was increased by 9 times, with the intermediate patent maintenance fees being increased by 3 times to 8.5 times.

Further, the official fee for requesting an examination of a patent application was finally fixed. Under the earlier fee schedule, this official fee was based on actual expenses incurred.

National Patent or Regional Patent? - A Comparison of Costs

As mentioned earlier, an alternative to filing a national patent application in Bahrain is to file a patent application with the Gulf Cooperation Council Patent Office, which, when granted, becomes valid in each of the six member states of the GCC.

The approximate costs of filing a GCC patent application with a single priority claim, requesting an examination of and prosecuting the GCC patent application, completing the patent grant procedure, and maintaining the patent through March 2029 are US $25,000. This estimate is inclusive of Value Added Tax, which has been added to the attorney charges and translation costs, and is based on the following considerations: 35 pages of translation at the patent filing stage, 10 pages of translation per prosecution action, and the issuance of more than one office action with substantive objections.

Thus, just by paying approximately US $2,500 extra, an applicant can obtain a patent that is valid and enforceable in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, as compared to a patent that is valid and enforceable only in Bahrain. Further, by opting for the GCC, an applicant can avail the advantages of a streamlined and centralized patent system that is more mature than the patent systems in the individual member states, several of which are currently under the process of evolution.

Patent Maintenance Fees in the GCC

In the GCC, the first patent maintenance fee is to be paid within three months of the beginning of the calendar year following the year in which the patent application was filed. Thus, for a patent application that is to be filed in March 2019, the first patent maintenance fee is to be paid between January 1, 2020, and March 31, 2020. Subsequent patent maintenance fees are payable within three months of the beginning of each calendar year (i.e., between January 1 and March 31 of every year).

Patent Management Software and Patent Portfolio Software

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Venkatesh Viswanath (Senior Content Strategist, Quantify IP) contributed to this article.
Exchange Rate Used: 1 U.S. Dollar = 0.38 Bahraini Dinars and 3.75 Riyals
Note: The estimates and fees depicted in this article are based on the Official Fee Schedules as of March 13, 2019