To curb trademark infringement, the spokesperson of the Saudi's Ministry of Commerce announced on April 22, 2021 that strict actions will be taken against offenders involved in trademark counterfeiting. The offenders will be jailed for up to one year and/or fined up to one million Saudi Riyals. Penalties will be imposed for forging registered trademarks or whoever exhibits, sells, or possesses products bearing a forged or counterfeited trademark. 1
Articles 42 and 43 of the GCC Trademark Law applied in Saudi Arabia regulates the punishment related to the trademark infringement, and it stipulates in article 42 that the punishment for infringing actions is imprisonment for a period not less than 1 month and not exceeding 3 years and a fine not less than 5000 Saudi Riyal and not exceeding 1 million Riyal or its equivalent in other GCC currencies or one of these two punishments.
As per the annual report 20202, for the Intellectual Property Enforcement, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), in cooperation with Customs, carried out a campaign to destroy more than 2 million counterfeit goods. This action was followed up and supervised in addition to media coverage. Also, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, in cooperation with the Ministry of Media, carried out a destruction campaign of more than 3.5 million Copyright works which was upheld by the competent Committee.
SAIP seeks to improve the protection of IP by its enforcement system, ensuring the quality of its operations, increasing transparency between itself and the private sector, to ensure compliance with IP laws and regulations in the Kingdom in order to maintain an attractive business environment.
Footnotes
1. https://twitter.com/spokesman_mc/status/1384963975599755265
2. https://static.saip.gov.sa/a/r/n/o/web/Respect%20Report%202020.V14-EN.pdf
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