The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) receives its fair share of news on the international circuit. At the forefront, the economic boom, which began in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a few years ago, is still going strong, along with the introduction of a number of reforms which are steadily fueling the diversification of the economy and attracting both national and foreign investment. Egypt’s economy also continues to grow and draw considerable attention from foreign investment given the development of a number of industries, including manufacturing, food processing, agriculture, hydrocarbons, and pharmaceuticals, and other service sectors that are driving the country’s relatively diverse economic activity.

Brand owners have become increasingly aware of the importance of extending their trademark portfolios to the rapidly developing MENA market. A combined, relatively young population of half a billion, growing at double digit rates, plays a significant role in making the region one of the fastest-growing markets in the world with a five-year compound annual growth rate outlook of 9 to 30 percent depending on the field or sector.

With that in mind, it is worth noting that the countries and jurisdictions in the MENA region follow the first-to-file principle for trademark registration, and thus, it is advisable for brand owners to seriously consider filing before unscrupulous individuals or entities exploit their brand’s goodwill. The standard definition of a trademark is somewhat common and the absolute grounds for registration in the countries and jurisdictions of the region are relatively the same with some minor differences. Ex officio examination on relative grounds is performed all over the region. Nearly all countries provide interested third parties with an opposition period prior to registration, which ranges from 30 days to several months from the publication date.

Importance of Protecting Brands in the Arabic Language

Arabic is the official and main language in all the MENA countries. This comes with certain implications when it comes to the protection of trademarks; in some countries it is mandatory to register trademarks in Arabic if intended to be used on signboards. In most countries and jurisdictions in the MENA, marks may be registered in Latin script, either on their own or alongside their Arabic translation or transliteration.

Even though translation and transliteration are protected by law in many MENA countries, because of the immense lexicon of the Arabic language, it is highly advisable for brand owners to register their brands in Arabic characters as to how they want the brand to be used and recognized. This gives them better protection against any alterations in the Arabic version of their mark which are similar to their own.

Non-Conventional Marks in the MENA

Despite the novelty and unfamiliar nature of non-conventional marks in the MENA, Saba IP has successfully filed non-conventional marks in many countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE. Recently, both the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) and the Omani Trademark Office accepted their first sound trademark application, which was examined as to form only, and it was subsequently registered.

In the absence of fundamental principles of the protectability of sound marks, including related definitive issues such as specific articulation or affixation/product connection requirements, gray areas in the legislation and the implementation have still to be clarified. In addition, there are no precedents on how prior cases regarding infringement of unconventional sound trademarks have been decided. The existence of such precedents gives an indication of how the judicial interpretation of the laws would be in cases involving identical circumstances.

Therefore, the question of enforceability of sound trademarks is a matter solely determined by the articles on trademark infringement as referred to under the local law, depending on the country or jurisdiction. Many registrations of non-conventional marks have also been witnessed in the UAE, where 3D trademarks are proving extremely helpful for clients to enforce their rights against look-alike infringing products.