Trademark Registration Lawyers in Jeddah

Trademark registration in Jeddah: the actual steps

Registering your trademark with the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) is what gives you an exclusive legal right to use it and sue anyone infringing on it: relying on your commercial registration alone doesn't provide this protection.

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The three stages of registration

After filing electronically through SAIP's platform, the application goes through: formal and substantive examination (you may receive objections requiring amendment within 90 days, or the application is deemed abandoned), a 60-day publication period opening the door to third-party opposition, and finally paying the final fee within 30 days to receive the protection certificate.

Approximate timeline and cost

The process typically takes 6 to 12 months, and the total cost depends on how many classes of goods or services your registration needs to cover, since each additional class adds its own separate fee. Filing under too few classes to save money upfront is a common false economy: it leaves parts of your actual business activity unprotected, often discovered only once a competitor is already using your name in the class you skipped. The certificate is valid for 10 years, renewable.

The most common reasons for rejection

• Similarity to an already-registered mark (in sound, appearance, or overall impression)
• The mark being too descriptive of your activity
• Filing under a class that doesn't reflect your actual activity
• Missing a certified Arabic translation when the mark includes foreign words

Opposing registration: yours or a competitor's

During the 60-day publication period, any interested party may file a reasoned opposition before the Authority's competent department, whether to protect your previously registered mark from a confusingly similar new one, or to defend your own application against an opposition you've received. The Authority issues its decision within 60 days of the opposition being filed, and it can be appealed within 30 days or taken to the competent court within 60 days of the decision. Acting quickly within these windows, especially when you spot a competing mark going through publication, often matters more than the strength of the legal argument itself.

Transferring ownership and licensing: documentation is mandatory, not optional

Selling your trademark in whole or in part, or granting another party a license to use it, must be recorded with the Authority to be enforceable against third parties; otherwise the arrangement remains valid only between the two parties with no standing against a third-party challenger. A well-drafted license agreement fixes its scope (exclusive or non-exclusive), its term and geographic reach, the covered categories, and quality-control conditions to protect your mark's reputation from misuse by the licensee.

When you find your mark registered under someone else's name

Discovering that a competitor or bad-faith party registered your trademark before you did is a common and painful situation, especially for marks already used in the market before registration. In this case you can oppose on the basis of prior actual use and the registrant's bad faith, or later file a cancellation action if the opposition window has passed, and both routes require strong documentation of your actual prior use of the mark (invoices, advertisements, contracts) predating the other party's registration date.

Protecting your mark across multiple classes

The Nice Classification system divides goods and services into 45 classes, and registering your mark in one class alone does not protect it in other classes, even if your activity seems logically connected to them. A restaurant company, for instance, may need to register its mark in both the restaurant class and the packaged food products class if it plans to sell retail products later, and planning ahead for likely expansion classes saves additional registration cost down the line when actually needed.

Losing protection through non-use

A registered mark not actually used in the market for five consecutive years can face a cancellation action for non-use brought by a third party wishing to register a similar mark, so registration alone without ongoing actual use does not guarantee protection forever. Regularly documenting actual use (invoices, advertisements, sales) protects your mark against this type of challenge.

Our services

1. An initial search to confirm your mark doesn't conflict with registered marks
2. Preparing and filing the application under the correct class for your activity
3. Responding to any SAIP objections within statutory deadlines
4. Following up on periodic renewal and protecting the mark from infringement or cancellation for non-use

To protect your brand name or logo in Jeddah before someone else claims it, reach out to us on WhatsApp.

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