Law firm Clyde & Co has boosted its network of intellectual property offices across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with the addition of an office in Kuwait. The office, which is part of the Clyde IP Services brand, provides trade mark and patent filing capabilities. It adds to the existing network, which also spans the rest of the GCC countries: Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. The expansion comes at a time when the GCC has been unifying its intellectual property laws with a GCC patent law and a GCC trademark law. 

Expansion

Rob Deans, Clyde & Co, head of intellectual property, says: 'The completion of our GCC network of offices highlights our commitment to expanding our intellectual property capabilities across the Middle East region. Importantly, this coincides with the introduction of the GCC Trade Mark Law, which increases the importance of being able to provide a consistent and seamless service across the region. Our continued aim is to provide our clients with a pre-eminent service for all intellectual property matters across the Middle East region. The efficiencies of our model also enable us to lower the cost to clients of protecting IP rights in the region.'

New laws

The expansion comes at a time when the  GCC is is becoming increasingly integrated for the protection of intellectual property rights. The GCC Patent Law and the GCC Common Customs Law have been in place since 1992 and 2003 respectively. More recently, the GCC Trade Mark Law is being implemented across the region with, to date, the new law having been adopted by Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia (with Oman, Qatar and the UAE expected to follow). 

Track record

Clyde & Co’s intellectual property practice has a more than 25 year track record in the Middle East.  Clyde IP Services is the brand name of a network of trade mark and patent filing offices in Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. In Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Clyde & Co LLP operates as a law firm with a full service intellectual property practice.