WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/Q/OMN/1
IP/Q2/OMN/1
IP/Q3/OMN/1
IP/Q4/OMN/1
24 March 2003
(03-1675)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION
OMAN1
The present document reproduces the introductory statement made by the delegation of
Oman, the questions put to it and the responses given in connection with the review of legislation
undertaken at the Council's meeting of 18 to 22 June 2001.2
_______________
I. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
My delegation is happy to participate in this  meeting of the TRIPS Council in the review of
the Sultanate of Oman's legislation to implement the TRIPS Agreement.
In the process of its accession to the WTO, Om an gave careful attention and took particular
attention to ensure that its laws and rules on intellectual property rights were fully compliant with the
requirements of the TRIPS Agreement.   We already had laws on trademarks and copyright.
However, in order to ensure complete conformity with the relevant provision of the TRIPS
Agreement, we did not follow the route of making amendments to the existing laws.  Instead, we
made completely new laws on trademarks and copyright.  The Sultanate of Oman did not have laws inother areas of intellectual property.  We therefore made new laws in all relevant areas.  To achieve
conformity of our laws with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, we sought technical assistance
of the WIPO.  We are happy to say that the WIPO was very generous in providing us valuable
technical assistance in drafting our IPR laws.  The draft laws were submitted to the Working Party on
Oman's accession to the WTO and the comments of the Working Party members were carefullyconsidered in making the final version of our laws.  Moreover, further work is carried out at present in
collaboration with the WIPO to release the appropriate regulations in order to start with the
implementation of the mentioned laws.
The Sultanate of Oman has promulgated the following IPR laws which are before the Council
for this review:
- Law on Copyright and Related Rights- Law on Trademarks, Trade Secrets and Protection from Unfair Competition
                                                     
1 As regards laws and regulations notified by Oman under Article 63.2 of the Agreement, reference is
made to documents IP/N/1/OMN/1, IP/N/1/OMN/C/1, IP/N/1/OMN/D/1, IP/N/1/OMN/G/1, IP/N/1/OMN/I/1,IP/N/1/OMN/L/1 and IP/N/1/OMN/P/1 and 2.
2 The minutes of this meeting have been circulated as document IP/C/M/32.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 2
- Law for the Protection of Geographical Indications
- Law on Industrial Designs and Patents
- Law for the Protection of Plant Varieties
- Law for the Protection of Integrated-Circuits and Topographic Designs.A comprehensive law on the enforcement of intellectual property rights is in the process of
issue.  However, even pending the issue of the enforcement law, the Sultanate of Oman is taking
vigorous measures for the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
The Sultanate of Oman has complied with notification requirements by submitting
notifications under Articles 63.2, 69, 70.8 and 70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement.  These notifications
have been circulated to the WTO Members and should be available to this Council.
II. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY CANADA
1. Please describe how the enforcement obligations (Articles 41-61 of the TRIPS
Agreement and throughout) have been implemented.
Intellectual property laws are numerous, certain laws such as customs laws will be
promulgated soon and any flaws or ambiguities can be addressed in the implementing regulations,
which are being prepared, besides, a unified enforcement law is being drafted.
2. What protection does your copyright legislation afford to "foreign works"?
The copyright and related rights protection law applies to the artistic and scientific work of
both Omanis and foreigners published, acted, performed, transmitted or first fixed in the Sultanate of
Oman or abroad. (Article 24 reciprocity).
III. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND
THEIR MEMBER STATES
A. G
ENERAL PROVISIONS
1. Please describe if your legislation includes measures necessary to protect public health
and nutrition, and to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to your socio-
economic and technological development as mentioned under Article 8 of the TRIPS
Agreement.  If yes, please explain how such measures are consistent with the provisions of the
TRIPS Agreement.
There exist certain legislations as to the protection of public health.  The Ministry of Health is
currently preparing a draft  law on the protection of public health.
Also there are various regulations which prohibit importation of goods and products non-
conforming with the Omani standards.
B. C OPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
2. Please state how your legislation provides for the protection of the exclusive rights of
authors in relation to their literary and artistic  works, as specified in Article 9 of the TRIPSIP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 3
Agreement which requires Members to comply with  Articles 1-21 of the Berne Convention and
the Appendix to the B erne Convention (1971).
Article 14 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights provides that:
"Upon request from the author, owner of the author 's rights or their successors in title, the
competent court  may decide to order the following conservative measures be taken:
1. Put an end to the infringement of any right protected under this law;
2. seize infringing copies of the work and the material used to make those copies;
3. prove the existence of a public performance in case of execution, representation or
public recitation of a work and discontinue or prevent the display of the show;
4. designate an official receiver for the work under conflict, who shall be responsible for
the republication, presentation, manufacturing or making or copies of the work; the
resulting proceeds shall be deposited with the Court Treasury . Such receivership shall
cease by agreement between the concerned parties or by a court decision;
5. designate an expert to assess the proceeds of such publication or presentation, where
necessary, and seize the income in all cases."
Article 5 provides for the author's rights:
"Author's rights include:1. Moral rights:
(a) To claim authorship of the work or publish it under a pseudonym or
anonymously;
(b) to object to any deletion, change, addition or any other modification of the
work without the author's consent.
The rights set out in the foregoing items may not be assigned, disposed of or subject to
prescription.
2. Economic rights:
(a) Reproduction of the work by any means;
(b) translation into another language, summary, adaptation or other
transformation of the work;
(c) public performance or communication to the public of the work by any
means;
(d) any commercial exploitation of the work, including rental of the original or
copies of the work."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 4
Article 10 provides that:
"The author or holder of the author's rights may transfer the economic rights in the work, in
whole or in part, for free or against compensation.  Such act shall be made by a writtencontract specifying explicitly and in detail each right subject to the act with an indication of
the scope, objective, period and place of exploitation and, if any, the compensation."
Article 11 provides that:"Unless otherwise bequeathed, the individual or collective rights of authors shall devolve,
after their death, onto their legitimate heirs."
3. Please describe the protection accorded to authors of computer programs, databases or
compilations of data.
Please refer to the articles mentioned in the previous question as they apply to authors of
computer programs.
4. Please state whether your legislation provides for a rental right and, if so, the works to
which it applies.
Article 1 of the Law on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights, under the definition
of "publication" provides for the making of copies of a work or a sound recording in a quality that
reasonably satisfies the public needs through sale, rental or otherwise transfer of ownership,
possession of a work, sound recording or right to use such work or sound recording.  Publication also
means making a copy of a work or a sound recording available to the public by an electronic medium."Copies of the work" means any original artistic, literally or scientific work.
5. Please describe the rights granted to performers, producers of phonograms (sound
recordings) and broadcasting organisations under your legislation.
Article 16 of the Copyright Law provides that:
"Performers shall enjoy the following rights:
1. Moral rights:
(a) To be identified as such with respect to their performances;(b) to object to any distortion, mutilation or any modification or their
performances.
2. Economic rights:(a) To broadcast or communicate to the public their unfixed performance;(b) to fix or record their unfixed performance;
(c) to reproduce sound recordings containing an unauthorized fixation of their
performances;
(d) to rent sound recordings containing their performances."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 5
Article 18 provides that:
"Producers of sound recordings shall enjoy the following rights:
1. Direct or indirect reproduction of their recordings;
2. rental of recordings."Article 20 provides that:"Broadcasting organisations shall enjoy the following rights in their broadcast:1. Fixation of or recording of their broadcasts and reproduction of such recordings;2. rebroadcasting of the broadcast by wireless means and communication of such
broadcast to the public."
6. Please state whether your legislation provides for any limitation or exception in relation
to each of the rights described above in acco rdance with the relevant provisions of the Berne
and Rome Conventions and in light of Articles 13 and 14.6 of the TRIPS Agreement.
In the TRIPS Agreement, Article 13 gives members the right to confine limitations or
exceptions to exclusive the rights to certain special cases which do not conflict with a normal
exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the right holder.
Article 6 of the Copyright Law provides that:"The following uses of works shall be lawful even without the consent of the author provided
that the source and the name of the author are clearly indicated:
1. Quoting paragraph from the work in another work for clarification, explanation or
criticism purposes, provided that such quotations comply with common practice and
are justified be the goal to be achieved;
2. exploitation  of the work for  teaching purposes by way of illustration, in
publications, radio or television broadcast, cinematographic work, for educational or
teaching purposes, within the limits required by the goal to be achieved."
7. Please state the terms of protection of ea ch right described above and the work or
subject matter to which it applies.
Article 7 provides that:
"The author's economic rights shall last throughout the lifetime of the author and for fifty
years, under the Gregorian calendar, from the beginning of the first year after his death.
In case of a joint work, the term shall be fifty years, under the Gregorian calendar, from the
first year after the death of the last surviving author."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 6
Article 8 provides that:
"The term of protection of the author's economic rights in the following works shall be fifty
years, under the Gregorian calendar, from the date on which such works were first published:
(a) Cinematographic works, works of applied arts and photographic works;(b) works published under a pseudonym or anonymously, unless the author's identity is
revealed during that period;
(c) works published for the first time posthumously."Article 9 provides that:"If a work consists of several parts published separately and at intervals, each part shall be
considered an independent work for computing the term of protection."
Article 19 provides that:"The term of protection of the rights of perf ormers and producers of sound recordings shall be
fifty years, under the Gregorian calendar, from the beginning of the first year after the startingdate of the recording, fixation or performance, as the case may be."
Article 21 provides that:"The term of protection of the rights of broadcasting organizations shall be twenty years,
under the Gregorian calendar, from the beginning of the first year following the year when the
recording or fixation was made."
8. Please state how your legislation grants the retroactive protection provided pursuant to
Article 18 of the Berne Convention (the obligatio n of which derives from Article 9 of the TRIPS
Agreement) and Article 14.6 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 24(b) of the Copyright Law provides that  the provisions of this Law shall apply to:
"Works, performances, sound recordings and related rights existing when this Law becomes
effective, the calculation of the term of protection of such works shall include the elapsed
period from the date of the specific event when the term of protection started to the effectivedate of this law."
C. T
RADEMARKS
9. Please give the definition of a sign under your national legislation and explain under
what conditions it is protectable.
Article 1 of the Law on Trademarks, Indicati ons and Secrets and Protection against Unfair
Competition provides that:
"A trademark means any visible form capable of being distinguished and consisting of words,
signatures, personal names, letters, numbers, logos, symbols, addresses, seals, engravings,
combinations of colours, figurative elements or any other sign or combination of such
elements, if used or intended to be used to di stinguish goods, products or services as those of
the owner of the mark by reason of their manufacture, choice, sale or offering for sale."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 7
10. Please confirm whether or not services are a protectable subject matter in your
trademark law.  Please confirm if signs, such as trade names, are protectable.  Please describe if
elements such as sound, perfumes and containers are protectable.
Services, products and goods as well as trade names enjoy protection.  Smelling and hearing
marks do not enjoy protection, as the mark must be visible.
11. Please explain what the requirements of use a re, if any, as a condition for a trademark
registration.  Please explain the definition of use and the conditions of maintenance of a
registration in that respect.
Use is not a requirement for the registration of a mark.  Article 3 of the Trademark Law
provides that:
"Any person who wishes to uses a mark to distinguish goods produced or chosen by the
person, if such goods are sold or offered for sale by that person or intended for such purposes,
may apply for the registration of that mark according to the provisions of this law."
The registered mark if not used effectively for five consecutive years, the Commercial Court
may delete it.  (Article 18)
12. Please confirm whether or not your legislation permits that the registration of
trademarks be indefinitely renewable.
Yes, the protection period continues for ten years.  Article 16 of the Law on Trademarks
provides that the term of protection resulting from the registration of the mark shall be ten years.  The
right holder may secure the continuity of such protection for similar periods by making a request for
renewal within the last year on the terms and conditions prescribed by the Regulations.
13. Please describe the special requirements, if any, prescribed by your legislation
concerning the use of a trademark.
No.
D. G EOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
14. Please explain whether or not your trademark registration authority refuses a
trademark application if it contains a geographical indication.
Yes, registration will be rejected if the indication is liable to mislead the public or the
commercial community especially as to the geographical origin of the goods or services which
includes false information on the origin of the products or their other qualities or characteristics.
15. Please give the definition of a geographical indication in your legislation.
Article 1 of the Law on the Protection of Geographical Indications provides that:
"For the purposes of this Law, a geographical indication shall be an indication which
identifies a good as its origin and geographical environment in any country, region or locality,
including natural and/or human factors."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 8
16. Please describe and explain the provisions of your legislation establishing a link, if any,
between the characteristics of an indication and its geographical origin.
Article 2 provides that:
"Competent authorities, natural persons or any interested group of producers or consumers of
any natural, agricultural, industrial or handicraft products having a distinctive characteristic or
reputation attributable to their geographical origin, and any person trading in such articles
shall have the right to enjoy protection under this law."
17. Please describe how additional protection is granted by your legislation to wines and
spirits.  Please mention other types of products, if any, covered by this additional protection.
The Law grants protection to all geographical indications including wines and spirits.
18. Please explain how exceptions under Article 24 of the TRIPS Agreement are used in
your jurisdiction.  Please provide examples of the use of the exceptions by courts or lists of
names considered as generic in your jurisdiction.
We have no model lists, as such laws are new to us.
E. I NDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
19. Please explain whether or not your legislat ion extends to the protection of designs
dictated essentially by technical or functional considerations.  Please explain how textile designs
are protected.
It does not extend, as the industrial design must give a special appearance to the product
regardless of the functional or technical aspect.
Article 1 of the law on the Protection of Industrial Designs provides that:''For the purpose of this law, any composition of lines or colours or any three dimensional
form, whether or not associated with colours or any, shall be deemed to be an industrialdesign to be used in industrial or handicraft production, including textile designs, provided
that such composition or form gives a special appearance to the product of industry or
handicraft.''
No special treatment for textiles.
20. Please explain how your legislation protects right holders of a design against importing
of articles bearing embodied or copied design.
Article 12(b) of the Law provides that:
"Any person who carries out any of the following acts shall be punishable by imprisonment
for a period not exceeding two years, a fine no t exceeding two thousand Rial Omani or both:
Knowingly sells, offers for sale, imports or possess with the intention to sell products
embodying an industrial design registered in Oman."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 9
Article 13 provides that:
"The right holder in an industrial design may request from the chief judge of the competent
court or any judge designated by him from that Court to issue an order to take the necessaryconservative measures, such as preventing third parties from manufacturing, selling or
importing for commercial purposes goods which embody, wholly or partly, a protected
industrial design, and seizing used equipment or implements.  The same shall apply to
products, goods, packages, papers or others.
An action on the merits shall be filed with the competent court within fifteen days from the
date which the order was issued, failure of which shall cause the measures to cease to haveeffect."
21. Please state whether or not your legislation provides for the right to issue a compulsory
licence for industrial designs.
No.
22. Please indicate for what period of time your legislation grants protection for industrial
designs.
The protection period is 10 years from the filing of the registration, renewable for similar
periods.
F. P
ATENTS
23. Please describe how your legislation defines the notions of: novelty, inventiveness and
industrial application.
An invention shall be eligible for a patent if it is new, includes an innovative concept, and is
industrially applicable, be it for new industrial products or used industrial methods and means or a
new application for known industrial, methods and means.
24. Please explain whether or not in your legislatio n, patent or otherwise, patent rights are
enjoyed without any exclusions.  If exclusions a re provided for, please describe in detail how
these exclusions are applied in legal as well as practical terms.
There are exceptions in the text of Article 4 of the Patent Law:
1. Scientific theories, mathematical methods, computer programs, pure mental activities
and playing a game;
2. plant and animal research, or biological methods for the production of plants, animals
or types of plant and animal.  Exempted from this Article are minute biology and itsproduce;
3. methods of surgical or medical treatment of human and animal body, and methods for
diagnosis of illnesses applied to humans or animals.
However, these exceptions have not been applied, as the implementing regulations have not
been issued yet.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 10
25. Please explain whether your legislation prov ides for the exclusion of inventions from
patentability based on ordre public  or morality.  If so, please explain the relevant section of your
legislation and explain its formulation.  Please also explain if it has been applied in practice.
Article 2 of the Law provides that the invention shall not be patentable if it violates public
order and morals or prejudices national security or contradicts the principles of Islamic Law.
No actual application so far.
26. Please explain whether or not diagnostic, th erapeutic and surgical methods are excluded
from patentability in your legislation. If so, please explain the relevant section of your legislationand explain its formulation.
Already answered in question 24 (Article 4.c).
27. Please explain whether or not plants, animals and essentially biological processes are
excluded from patentability in your legislation. If so, please explain the relevant section of your
legislation and explain its formulation.
Already answered in question 24 (Article 4.b).
28. Please describe how micro-organisms, non-essentially biological processes,
microbiological processes and plant varieties are protected in your legislation. Please explain, in
this respect, the relevant sections of your legislation.
According to Article 4 of the Patents Law, plant and animal research or biological methods
for the production of plants, animals or types of plants and animals are not deemed inventions.
29. Please explain how your legislation protects  patent right holders against the importing
and against the offering for sale of a patented invention.
Article 9 of the Law provides that:
"The patent entitles its holder the right to utilize the invention by manufacturing, usage,
import, whatever is being manufactured and offer it for sale, whether the subject of invention
was material produce, industrial operation or manufacturing process.  Others may not utilize
the patent without the patent holder's permission."
30. Please state if your legislation provides for patent product protection of pharmaceutical
and agricultural chemical products.  In the a ffirmative, please indicate the legal reference.
These paragraphs shall be explained in the implementing regulations to be prepared by
WIPO.
31. Please clarify if the patent protection of a process, as provided for in your legislation,
covers the product obtained directly by that process.
Yes.  (Connected with the previous question).IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 11
32. Please explain the additional conditions, if any, in your legislation other than the
sufficient disclosure of the invention in Articl e 29 of the TRIPS Agreement (e.g. submission of
justification for access to genetic material or prio r inform consent to its use).  If such additional
conditions exist, please point out the relevant legislations and describe the additional conditionsin detail.
The Ministry of Health is preparing a Law on public health.
33. Please describe if your legislation provides for limited exceptions to the exclusive rights
conferred by a patent.  If affirmative, please make a reference to relevant legislation.
No.
34. Please explain whether or not your legislatio n provides for compulsory licensing. If so,
please explain in detail the conditions under which a compulsory licence may be granted.  In
particular, please explain how your national le gislation considers individual merits in the
authorization of such use.
Yes, Article 15 of the Law provides that:
"Three years after awarding the patent, whomever is concerned, may request a compulsory
license to utilize the invention for any of the following reasons:
1. Not utilizing the patent actively and seriously within three years from being awarded;2. suspension the utilization of the invention protected by the patent, by the patent
utilizer, for two consecutive years;
3. the patent holder's refusal to grant license contract to utilize it, which may impact the
establishment, or development, of industr ial or commercial activities within the
sultanate of Oman."
Article 17 provides that."Compulsory license to utilize an invention may not be awarded until after the license
applicant submits a proof of notifying the patent holder, by a registered mail, of the request to
obtain a license, and not arriving to an agreem ent within the time frame stipulated in the
bylaws."
35. Please explain how your legislation explicitly ensures that a proposed user has made
efforts to obtain authorization from the righ t holder on reasonable commercial terms and
conditions and that such efforts have not been successful within a reasonable period of time. In
this context, how do you define "reasonable period of time".  Please also explain how yourlegislation ensures that the use of a compulsory  licence shall be author ised predominantly for
the supply to the domestic market of the Member authorizing such use.
The answer will be clarified in the implementing regulations to be issued.
36. Please state if your legislation grants additi onal protection for innovations after the 20
years of patent protection has lapsed.
No.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 12
37. Please explain how your legislation provide s for the enhanced patent protection of
patents or patent applications pending on 1st January 1995.
The Sultanate was connected with the patent office of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
States.
38. Please explain how your legislation provides for the reversal of the burden of proof in
relation to process patents.
The enforcement Law which includes an article on the burden of proof is still under study.
G. L AYOUT -DESIGNS (TOPOGRAPHIES ) OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
39. Please describe how your legislation protects Topographies.
Article 11 of the Law on the Protection of Topographies Rights of Integrated Circuits
provides that:
"Any person who carries out any of the following acts shall be punishable by imprisonment
for a period not exceeding two years, a fine no t exceeding two thousand Rial Omani or both:
1. Reproduces a layout-design protected under this law without the authorization of the
right holder;
2. imports, sells or distributes a registered layout-design or product incorporating an
integrated circuit without the authorization of the right holder."
40. Please explain what protection your national legislation grants to right holders against
the unlawful importation, sale or distribution for commercial purposes of topographies
including integrated circuits or other articles in which a topography is incorporated in
accordance with Article 36 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 4 of the law provides that:
"The holder of the layout-design shall have alone the right to exploit commercially the layout-
design.  No other person shall have the right to import, reproduce, sell or distribute any
protected lay-out-design, unless having obtained a written authorization from the holder of the
right to explore the layout-design commercially or the successor in title."
41. Please explain how your legislation provide s for the derogation from Article 36 as
specified in Article 37 of the TRIPS Agreement where a person has no knowledge or reasonable
grounds to know when acquiring an integrated circuit or an article incorporating such an
integrated circuit that it contains an unlawful topography.
Article 8 of the Law provides that.
"The following uses of a layout-design shall be allowed even without the authorization of the
right holder:
(a) If the person did not know or had no reasonable ground to know that the good
incorporates a layout-design unlawfully reproduced, in which case, the stock at hand
or ordered before notification shall be disposed of against an adequate compensation
to be paid to the right holder."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 13
42. Please state the term of protection granted by your legislation to topographies.
Article 7 of the Law provides that:
"The term of protection of a layout-design shall be ten years from the filing date of the
application for registration."
H. P ROTECTION OF UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION
43. Please explain whether or not your legislatio n grants a defined period of time for the
protection of undisclosed information. If so, please give the time span.
There is no definite protection period for undisclosed information as long as its value is
unknown and secret.
44. Please explain how your legislation defines undisclosed information.
Article 34 of the Law on Trade Marks provides that.
"The commercial or industrial activity shall be considered secret if, due to its nature, it is not
known, it draws its commercial value from its confidentiality, reasonable measures have beentaken to main its confidentiality or it is not easily accessible to an ordinary person having skill
in the art."
45. Please explain how your legislation de fines data submitted to governments or
governmental agencies.
Article 34 of the Trade Marks Law provides that:
"Disclosure shall include making use of information, tests or other secret information
presented to the competent authorities in order to obtain marketing authorization necessary
for pharmaceuticals and agricultural products containing new chemical materials provided
that a tangible effort was furnished to obtain such products."
I. E
NFORCEMENT
46. Please describe how your legislation provides for effective action against infringement of
intellectual property rights.
Enforcement is carried out according to the following national laws:
Patent Law 82/2000
Article 9:The Patent entitles its holder the right to utilize the invention by manufacturing, usage, import
whatever is being manufactured and offer it for sale, whether the subject of the invention was
material produce, industrial operation or manufacturing process. Others may not utilize the
patent without the patent holder's permission.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 14
Article 21:
In the event of any illegal act, or violation of this law or the license awarded in accordance
with its provisions, the patent holder, or whomever some or all the patent's rights have beenassigned to, in accordance with this law, may request the competent court to issue a
provisional seizure on the invention and the installation used or utilized for the invention, or
part therefrom.
Article 23:Anyone requesting a provisional seizure should deposit a bond, to be specified by the court,
prior to the seizure order.  The confiscator should raise the subjective case within eight days
from the court's order, otherwise it shall be considered as null and void.
Article 24:
Without prejudice to any greater penalty stipulated by another law, anyone submitting false or
incorrect documents or information to obtain a patent, or anyone forging an invention or
manufacturing process, or encroached intentionally upon any right protected by this law, shall
be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years and/or a fine not exceeding
Rial Omani two thousand.
The Court may order the seizure of confiscated items, or its destruction, together with the
machinery and equipment used in the forgery.
Law of Trademarks 38/2000
Article 35:A punishment by imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and/or a fine not
exceeding two thousand Rial Omani shall be applicable to any person who:
(a) Counterfeits a mark registered under this Law, imitates such mark in a manner that is
likely to mislead the public or uses in bad faith a counterfeited or imitated mark;
(b) knowingly sells, offers for sale or circulation, processes with the intention to sell
products bearing a counterfeited, imitated or illicitly placed mark;
(c) uses in bad faith a mark identical with or similar to a well-known mark, whether
registered or not registered, in a manner that is likely to mislead the public, provided
that, in the case of a well-known mark that is not registered, goods or services are
identical or similar;
(d) contravenes in bad faith provisions on trade indications;
(e) intentionally contravenes provisions on unfair competition or protection of trade
secrets.
Article 36:
The owner of a mark may, at any time even before filing a commercial or criminal action,
request, by a petition accompanied by an official certificate of the registration of the mark,
that the chief judge of the Commerce Court issues an order to take the necessary conservativeIP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 15
measures, particularly the seizure of equipment and implements likely to be used or
effectively used in committing the offence.  The same shall apply to product, goods, titles,
packages, papers or whatever bears the infringing mark or indications.
Such seizure may be executed upon importation of the goods.  The order may include the
designation of an expert or more to assist in the seizure and require that the person making the
request makes a deposit.
Article 37:The seizure procedures provided for in the preceding Article shall be considered invalid if it is
not followed within eight days from the date of execution of the seizure by action for
damages or the date when the public attorney was notified of the person against whom the
measures were taken.
Article 38:In any commercial or criminal action, the competent court may decide to confiscate the
material seized or to be seized to deduct its value from damages or fines or dispose thereof in
any other manner considered convenient by the court.
In addition, the court may decide the destruction of illegal marks and, when necessary,
products, packages, wrapping material titles, catalogues and other material bearing such
marks or illegal indications.  It may also order the destruction of equipment and implements
particularly used in counterfeiting.  Such orders may be issued even in the case where a
judgement of non guilty is rendered.
The court may order the publication of the decision in the Official Gazette at the expense of
the person against whom the decision was pronounced.
Oman Penal Code 7/74
Article 305:Shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of three months minimum, and three years,
maximum and a fine of Rial Omani twenty , minimum and Rial Omani five hundred,
maximum whoever imitates a registered mark, belonging to a third party, however may be its
form, or places it on goods or any products.  And shall be punished with same punishmentswhoever offers for sale or sells, knowingly, a good or a product which bears an imitated or
pirated trademark.
Article 306:
Shall be punished by imprisonment for a term  between two months and two years and a fine
between Rial Omani twenty and Rial Omani three hundred whoever imitates a trademark with
the intention of fraud and whoever uses such a mark or sells or offers for sale a product which
bears such mark with the intention of swindling the buyer.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 16
Article 307:
Shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between three months and two years and a fine
between ten Rial Omani and there hundred Rial Omani whoever:
1. Imitates an invention or an industrial design registered in the territory of Oman or
abroad for the purpose of profit or to prejudice the interest of the owner;
2. infringes in any way the trade name of third party even if the infringed name is
slightly distorted or associated with a nickname other than that of its owner or with
any term or expression which retains the distinguishing letters and name in aconfusing way.
Commercial Law No 55/90
Article 47:Where a tradename is used by a person other than its owner or if used by its owner in a
manner inconsistent with the law, the parties concerned may apply for ban on its use.  They
may also apply for the deletion thereof if it is recorded in the Commercial Register and may
also have recourse to compensation where there is cause.
Article 48:The merchant may not resort to deception and fraud in disposing of his goods and shall not
publish false information in respect thereof which is damaging to the interests of anothercompeting merchant, otherwise he shall be liable for compensation.
Article 49:The merchant may not disseminate any particulars, which are inconsistent with fact as regards
the origin or description of his goods or the importance of his trade. Neither may he declare
contrary to fact that he holds a degree or certificate or award nor resort to any other method,which misleads with intent to entice clients from another competing merchant, otherwise he
shall be liable to pay compensation.
Article 50:
A merchant may not induce the workers or empl oyees of another merchant to assist him in
enticing clients from such merchant or to leave the service of the latter to enter into his
service and disclose to him the secrets of his competitor.  Such activities shall be deemed
unlawful competition, which requires compensation.
Article 51:
A person whose profession it is to provide commercial entities with information on the
situation of merchants and who in return for a fee deliberately or by way of gross negligence
supplies false information about the conduct or financial position of a merchant shall be liableto compensate for the damage caused by this error.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 17
Law on the Protection of Industrial Designs No 39/2000
Article 12:
Any person who carries out any of the following acts shall be punishable by imprisonment for
a period not exceeding two years, a fine not exceeding two thousand Rial Omani or both:
1. Imitates an industrial design registered under this law;2. knowingly sells, offers for sale, import or processes with the intention to sell products
embodying an industrial design registered in Oman;
3. illicitly affixes on products, advertisements, trademarks, containers or other object
indications that may lead to believe that the object is a registered industrial design.
Article 13:The rights holder in an industrial design may request from the chief judge of the Competent
Court or any judge designated by him from that Court to issue an order to take the necessary
conservative measures, such as preventing third parties from manufacturing, selling or
importing for commercial purposes goods which embody, wholly or partly, a protectedindustrial design, and seizing used equipment or implements.  The same shall apply to
products, goods, packages, papers or others.
An action on the merits shall be filed with the Competent Court within fifteen days from the
date of witch the order was issued, failure of, which shall cause the measures to cease to haveaffect.
Law on the Protection of Geographical Indications No 40/2000
Article 5:A good may not be designated or presented to the public in a manner which suggests that it
originates in a geographical area other than the true place of origin, misleads the public or
constitutes an act of unfair competition, including the use of a false geographical indication
with a mention of the true place of origin of the good and the use of a geographical indication
in translation or accompanied by expressions such as kind, style and imitation.
Article 6:
Any interested person may, pursuant to Article 2, request that an order be issued by the chief
judge of the Commerce Court or a judge desi gnate by him from the Court to take the
necessary conservative measures, including in particular, seizure of goods, products,packages, papers or the same.
An action on the merits shall be filed with the competent department of the Commerce Court
within fifteen days from the date at which the order was issued, failure of which shall cause
the measures to cease to have affect.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 18
Article 11:
Any person who intentionally commits any of the acts mentioned in Article (5) of this law
shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, a fine not
exceeding two thousand Rial Omani or both.
Law on the Protection of Topographies Righ ts of Integrated Circuits No 41/2000
Article 4:
The holder of the layout-design shall have alone the right to exploit commercially the layout-
design.  No other person shall have the right to import, reproduce, sell or distribute any
protected layout-design, unless having obtained a written authorization from the holder of the
right to explore the layout-design commercially or the successors in title.
Article 9:
The right holder may request from the chief judge of the Court of Commerce or a judge
designated by him from that Court to issue an order have the necessary conservative
measures, particularly the seizure of implements used.  The same shall apply to product,goods or others.
An action on the merits shall be filed with the competent department within fifteen days from
the date at which the order was issued, failure of, which shall cause the measures to cease to
have effect.
Article 11:Any person who carries out any of the following acts shall be punishable by imprisonment for
a period not exceeding two years, a fine not exceeding two thousand Rial Omani or both:
(a) Reproduces a layout-design protected under this law without the authorization of the
right holder;
(b) imports, sells, or distributes a registered layout-design or product incorporating an
integrated circuit without the authorization of the right holder.
Law on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights No 37/2000
Article 14:
Upon request from the author, owner of the author 's rights or their successors in title, the
competent court may decide to order the following conservative measures be taken:
1. Put an end to the infringement of any right protected under this law;2. seize infringing copies of the work and material used to make these copies;3. prove the existence of a public performance in case of execution, representation or
public recitation of a work, and discontinue or prevent the display of the show;IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 19
4. designate an official receiver for the work under conflict, who shall be responsible for
the publication, presentation, manufacturing or making of copies of the work; the
resulting proceeds shall be deposited with the Court Treasury.  Such receivership
shall cease by agreement between the concerned parties or by a court decision;
5. designate an expert to assess the proceeds of such publication, or presentation, where
necessary, and seize the income in all cases.
The plaintiff shall file an action on the merits of  the case with the Court within the following
fifteen days, for a decision on the merits and appropriate damages to be granted.  Otherwise,
the measures shall cease to have effect.
Article 23:Infringement of any moral or economic right of authors or holders of related rights under this
Law shall be punished by imprisonment for a maximum period of two years, by a maximumfine of two thousand Rial Omani or both.  In particular, any of the following acts shall be
considered infringements:
(a) Selling or making available, by any means, a work protected under the provisions of
this law;
(b) imitating in Oman a work published abroad, or knowingly making available,
exporting or shipping abroad such imitation;
(c) communicating or making available to the public, a performance, broadcast or sound
recording through a computer network for commercial purposes;
(d) illicit removal or alteration of any technical protection intended to regulate or limit
public access to the work, performance, broadcast or recording, or distribution,
import for distribution purposes, broadcasting or making available to the public of the
above, provided that the person who comm its the act knows or has grounds to know
the committed infringement.
Law on Control of Artistic Works No 609/97
Article 3:
The performance of any of the following acts in relation to artistic works is impermissible
except after obtaining a license from the Ministry:
1. Their photocopying, recording, or alteration for exploitation;
2. their importation or exportation;
3. their distribution, rental, circulation or sale.Article 5:Circulation, sale or display of non-original artistic works shall be prohibited except by
authorization from the producer or the authorized agent in Oman.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 20
Article 25:
Whoever breaches the provisions of paragraph first, second and third or Article 3 of this Law
shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not to exceed two years and /or a fine of notless than Rial Omani one thousand and not more than Rial Omani two thousand. Such
penalties shall be doubled in case the offence recurs.
Article 30:The provisions of this Law shall not apply to the artistic works imported for personal use, and
the importer shall, if he permits their reproduction for commercial purposes or for circulation,be subject to the penalties provided for in Article 25 of this Law.
47. Please explain whether or not your legislation provides for a mechanism to appeal to
judicial bodies of final administrative decisions.
Article 11 of the Law on Trademarks provides that:
"Any decision by the Register refusing registration or making it subject to a condition may be
opposed by the applicant before the Commerce Court within thirty days from the date of
notification of the decision.  The Court may confirm, cancel or modify the decision.
If, within the fixed period, the applicant fails to oppose the decision and proceed with the
modifications required by the Registrar, the applicant shall be deemed to have abandoned the
application."
Article 13 of the same law provides that:
"The registrar shall decide on the opposition after hearing the parties if so requested, and shall
issue the decision accepting or refusing the registration.
In the former case, he may decide whatever limitations he considers necessary.  Any
interested person may oppose the decision before the Commerce Court within thirty daysfrom the date he was notified.  The Commerce Court may confirm, cancel or modify the
decision. Notwithstanding opposition, if the Registrar finds that the opposition to registration
is not based on serious grounds, he may issue a decision to proceed with the registration of
the trademark, indicating the reasons for such a decision."
Article 13 of the Law on the Protection of Industrial Designs provides that:
"The right holder in an industrial design request from the chief judge of the competent court
or any judge designated by him from that Court to issues an order to take the necessary
conservative measures, such as preventing third parties from manufacturing, selling orimporting for commercial purposes goods which embody, wholly or partly, a protected
industrial design, and seizing used equipment or implements.  The same shall apply to
products, goods, packages, papers or others.
An action on the merits shall be filed with the competent court within fifteen days from the
date at which the order was issued, failure of which shall cause the measures to cease to have
effect."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 21
Article 8 of the Law on the Protection of Geographical Indications provides that:
"An applicant for registration may oppose a decision refusing the application before a
committee to be formed by the decision of the Minister.  The procedure for such an appealshall be determined in the Regulations.  The decision of the committee may be the subject of
an appeal before the competent department of  the Commerce Court within sixty days from the
date of notification of the decision of the committee by registered mail."
Article 3 of the Law on the Protection of layout-D esigns of Integrated Circuits provides that:
"Any interested person may oppose a decision refusing registration within thirty days from
notification before a committee to be formed by decision of the Minister.  The rules of
procedure of the committee shall be determined in the Regulations.  The decision of the
committee may be the subject of an appeal before the competent department of the Commerce
Court within sixty days from the date of notification of the decision of the committee by
registered mail."
48. Please describe how your legislation authorizes judges to order production of evidence
by the opposing party.  Please give precise information on what measures are taken to ensure
the protection of confidential information.
No need for legal provisions, as they are general rules.
49. Please quote provisions of your legislation that authorize judges to order a defendant to
desist from an infringement.
No need for legal provisions, as they are general rules.
50. Please quote what provisions of your legislation authorize judges to order the payment
to the right holder of adequate damages to compensate the injury he suffered.
Article 18 of the Law on Hearing and Arbitration before the Authority for the Settlement of
Commercial Disputes provides that, without prejudice to the provision of the previous article, thevalue of the suit shall be estimated according to the prevailing prices on the day of its institution.
Such estimation shall include the interests, compensations, expenses etc., and other costs that may
arise after the filing of the case until its settlement.  The estimation shall be based on the last claims of
the litigants, taking the following into account:
1. If the suit is in connection with the validity or nullity of an existing contract, its value
shall be estimated at the contract value and, as to counter claims, the suit shall be
estimated at the claim of the bigger value;
2. if the suit is for a part of a right, the suit shall be estimated at the value of such part
unless all the right is contested and the claimed part is not excluded, the estimation
shall be based on the value of all the right;
3. if the suit is relating to the validity or nullity of an existing contract, estimation shall
be based on the total cash equivalent for the full term of the contract;IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 22
4. if the suit is for an assessable claim, the minimum fees shall be collected therefor on
its registration, and the Secretariat of the Authority shall calculate the due fee up to
the day of the pronouncement of the judgement according to the foregoing and the
Authority shall prepare regulations for other rules for estimating cases covered by theforegoing rules.
51. Please quote what provisions of your legislation authorize judges to order the payment
of the right holder's expenses by the infringer.
No need for legal provisions, as they are general rules.
52. Please explain if and how judges have the au thority to order that infringing goods are
placed outside channels of commerce or destroyed.
Refer to the answer to question 46.
53. Please quote what provisions of your legislation authorize judges to indemnify a
defendant in the event of abuse by the plaintiff.
Enforcement law is still under consideration.
54. Please explain how your legislation implements Article 50 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Enforcement law is still under consideration.
55. Please identify the competent authorities in  your jurisdiction who receive requests from
right holders for an application to suspend the release of counterfeit goods by the customs
authorities.
The Commercial Court.
56. Please indicate whether or not procedures  are available to suspend the exporting of
counterfeit goods.
Yes, the right holder shall apply to the competent court for an order for provisional seizure if
the imitated commodity is prepared for export
57. Please quote what provisions of your legisl ation authorize the competent authorities to
order the destruction or disposal of infringing goods.
Refer to the answer to question 46.
58. Please indicate whether or not your legislation provides for a de minimis imports
exception.
The GCC Unified Customs Law allows entry of quantities of goods for personal use
contained in personal luggage.
59. Please explain how your legislation implements Article 61 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Refer to the answer to question 46.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 23
IV. RESPONSE TO QUESTION POSED BY JAPAN
A. COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Please explain exceptions or exemptions of  the National Treatment and Most-Favoured-
Nation Treatment under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Law, if any, as permitted inArticles 3 and 4 of the TRIPS Agreement.
There are no exceptions or exemptions of National Treatment or MFN Treatment under
Oman's law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights.
V. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY SWITZERLAND
A. GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
1. Please explain in detail how your legislation provides protection for geographical
indications.
(i) Pursuant to the provision of Article 3, the geographical indication shall benefit from
the protection provided for in the Law on the Protection of Geographical Indications,
promulgated in Royal Decree No. 40/2000, whether it is registered or not.
(ii) Protections also provided against a geographical indication which, although literally
true as to the territory, region or locality in which the goods originate, falsely
represents to the public that the goods original in another territory.
(iii) In the case of homonymous geographical indications, protection shall be accorded to
each indication subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 in Article 11 of the same lawprovides that whoever commits, intentionally, any of the acts set out in Article 5,
which provides that it is impermissible to name a commodity or display it to the
public in a way to imply that its geographic al origin is not the real origin thereof,
shall be penalised by an imprisonment term not to exceed two years and a penalty of
not more than two thousand Rial Omani or either of these penalties.
B. PATENTS
2. Does your legislation grant patent protection to all categories of products or are there
any exceptions?  If so, please explain in detail what kind of exceptions exist and how they
comply with Article 27 of the TRIPS Agreement.
There are some exceptions: Article 4 of the Patent Law No. 82/2000 provides that, the
following shall be excluded from patentability:
(i) Scientific theories, mathematical methods, software, practising pure mental activities
and practising games.
(ii) Plant and animals other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological processes
for the production of plants or animals or plant varieties other than non-biological and
microbiological process.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 24
(iii) Diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of human or animals.
Article 2 provides that, it shall be excluded from palatability whatever may prejudice
pubic order or morality or the national security or contradict the provisions of Islamic
law.
These exceptions are compatible with the provisions of Article 27.3(a) and (b) of the TRIPS
Agreement.
3. Does your legislation, in accordance with Article 27.1 in combination with Article 31 of
the TRIPS Agreement, consider importation as "working" a patent (and therefore preclude
compulsory licensing, if a product is being imported)?
According to Article 15(c), import of the produce shall not be deemed a legitimate reason to
prevent the issue of the obligatory authorisation.
Follow-up question:
You mention that according to Article (15)/c [of the Patent Law No 82/2000], "import of
the produce shall not be deemed a legitimate reason to prevent the issue of the obligatory
authorisation".  Please explain how this comp lies with Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement,
which provides that patent rights shall be enjoyable without discrimination as to whetherproducts are imported or locally produced.
In referring to TRIPS Agreement Article 27/ 1 and the Oman Law in relation to patents
promulgated by Royal Decree No. 82/2000 it has become clear that Article 27/1 of TRIPS does not
contradict with Article 15/c of the Patent law as Article 27/1 deals with the Patent Law and thepatentable materials in general while the Article 15/c of the patent law deals with obtaining the
compulsory licence in exploiting the patent and the importation is not considered as legal reason to
grant the compulsory licence.
4. Does your legislation make the granting of a compulsory license subject to all the
conditions enumerated in Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement?  Please cite the relevant
provisions of law.
Article 15 provides that every person concerned may after the lapse of 3 years from the data
of granting the patent for an obligatory authorisat ion to exploit the invention for any of the following
reasons:
(a) Non-exploitation of the patent seriously within 3 years from the date of its granting.
(b) stoppage of the utilization of the invention protected by the patent for two connective
years.
(c) request of the patent owner to contractually, authorise the exploitation of the patent
the thing, which may jeopardise establishment of industrial or commercial activities
in the Sultanate of Oman.
Article 18 of the law provides that:"Compulsory licence shall be awarded only to the applicant who provides necessary
guarantees that the invention will be fully util ised to deal with the shortage, or meet the
requirements, that have lead to requesting the compulsory licence.  It is not permitted for
those who have been awarded a compulsory licence to assign the patent, or its use, to others.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 25
The Minister may cancel the licence if the licensee violates the licence conditions, or if the
reasons justifying its award have been removed.  The licensee may complain against this
decision before the committee, as stipulat ed in Article 7, and in accordance with the
conditions and regulations stipulated in the bylaws."
Follow-up question:
Please explain how your legislation implements the conditions set out in Article 31 (a) to
(l) of the TRIPS Agreement.  Please cite the relevant provisions of your law.
The patent laws, promulgated by Royal Decree No. 82/2000 addressed the compulsory
licensee within Articles 15, 16, 18, 19 and Article 20 as follows:
Article (15): Three years after awarding the patent, whomever is concerned, may request a
compulsory licence to utilize the inve ntion for any of the following reasons:
(i) Non-utilization of the patent activity and seriously within three years, from date of its
award;
(ii) suspension of the utilization of the invention protected by the patent, by the patent
holder from two consecutive years;
(iii) the patent holder's refusal to grant a licence contract for the utilization of the patent,
which may impact the establishment or development, of industrial or commercial
activities in the sultanate of Oman.
In all cases the compulsory licence may not be issued if patent holder justified his position.
The import of the product shall not be deemed a legitimate excuse.  However the decision awarding
the compulsory licence is issued by the Minister and the patent holder may complain such decision
before the committee provided for in Article (7) in accordance with the conditions and regulations is
stipulated in bylaws.
Article (16): Compulsory licence grants the licensee the right to carry on all or some of the
activities entrusted to the patent holder according to the licence conditions excluding the right to
import the product.  The licence holder may however use the civil and penal rights of the patent
holder to protect and utilize the invention in the event of failure despite of being notified.
Article (17): Compulsory licence to utilize an  invention may not be awarded until after the
licence applicant submits a proof of notifying the patent holder, by registered mail, of the request to
obtain a licence, and not arriving to an agreement within the timeframe stipulated in the bylaws.
Article (18): Compulsory licence shall be awarded only to the applicant who provides
necessary guarantees that the invention will be fully utilized to deal with the shortage, or meet therequirements, that have led to requesting the compulsory licence.  It is not permitted for those who
have been awarded a compulsory licence to assign the patent, or its use, to other.  The Minister may
cancel the licence if the licensee violates the licence conditions, or if the reasons justifying its award
have been removed.  The licensee may complain against this decision before the committee, as
stipulated in Article (7), and in  accordance with the conditions and regulations stipulated  in the
bylaws.
The compulsory licence may not be assigned except with the enterprise of the licensee or the
part of such enterprise, which exploit the invention, provided that such assignment is by approval of
the Minister, otherwise is shall be null.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 26
Article (19): Compulsory licences, and whatever decisions, verdicts and related applications,
shall be registered in a special register at the department, in accordance with the conditions and
regulations stipulated in the bylaws.
Article (20): Whoever is concerned may apply to the competent court to revoke the patent, or
the compulsory licence, if:
(i) The patent, certificate of licence was awarded without the provisions of the
conditions stipulated in this law, or its bylaws;
(ii) the patent certificate or licence was awarded without taking into consideration the
priority of previous applications.
The patent, compulsory licence holder, and whomever's right has been suspended should be
notified of the date of the court session.
In the event of a verdict to revoke, then it should be registered in the special register, and
made public as stipulated in the bylaws.
5. Does your legislation provide for the principle of the reversal of burden of proof in a
process patent litigation?  Please cite the relevant provisions of law.
This matter is still under study.
C. PROTECTION OF UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION
6. Please explain in detail if your legislation ensures that undisclosed test or other data
submitted by an applicant to the responsible State agency in the procedure for market
authorisation of a pharmaceutical or of an agricultural chemical product is protected against
disclosure and against unfair commercial use by a competitor, for example by prohibiting a
second applicant from relying on, or from referring to the original data of the first applicant,
when applying subsequently for market authorisation for his own product.  Does your
legislation provide for exceptions to this? If yes, under what conditions would such exceptionsapply?  Does your legislation set a specific term of protection for undisclosed test or other data
of the first applicant?
Article 34 of the Law on Trademarks, Descripti ons and Secrets and Protection against Unfair
Competition provides:
"Any natural person or legal entity may not disclose trade secrets in his or its possession in a
manner that is contrary to honest practice in trade.  A commercial or industrial activity shall
be considered secret if, due to its nature, it is not known, it draws its commercial value from
its confidentiality, reasonable measures have been taken to maintain its confidentiality, or it isnot easily accessible to an ordinary person having skill in the art.  Disclosure shall include
making use of information, tests or other secret information presented to the competent
authorities in order to obtain a marketing authorisation necessary for pharmaceuticals and
agricultural products containing new chemical material provided that a tangible effort was
furnished to obtain such products."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 27
Follow-up question:
Referring to the issue of unfair commercial use of data submitted by an applicant to the
responsible State Agency in the procedure for market authorisation of a pharmaceutical or ofan agricultural chemical product, please explain in  detail if your legislation explicitly prohibits a
second applicant from relying on, or from referring  to, the original data of the first applicant,
when applying subsequently for market authorisation for his own product.  Does the
responsible State Agency require the same amount of data from the second applicant as from
the first applicant?  Does your legislation set a specific term of protection for undisclosed test or
other data of the first applicant?
Protection of trade secrets
Article (34): of the Law on Trademarks, Indications and Secrets and Protection against Unfair
Competition promulgated by Royal Decree No. 38/2000, provides as follows:
Any natural person or legal entity may not disclose trade secrets in his or its possession in a
manner that is contrary to honest practice in trade.  A commercial or industrial activity shall be
considered secret if, due to its nature, it is not known, it draws its commercial value from its
confidentiality, reasonable measures have been taken to maintain its confidentiality or it is not easily
accessible to an ordinary person having skill in the art.
Disclosure shall include making use of information, tests or other secret information
presented to competent authorities in order to obtain a marketing authorization necessary for
pharmaceuticals and agricultural products containing new chemical material provided that a tangible
effort was furnished to obtain such products.
The second part of the question concerning the competent government agency, which may
require the same quantity of data from the second applicant as from the first applicant, will  be
addressed by the executive regulations when issued.
As to the last part of the question regarding the protection period of secret test or other data of
the first applicant, there is no protection period specified in  aforesaid law.
D. ENFORCEMENT
7. Please indicate remedies provided by your legislation, which constitute effective
deterrents to infringements of intellectual property rights.
(a) Article 14 of the Copyright and Related Rights Law promulgated by the Royal
Decree No. 37/2000.
(b) Article 18 of the Law on Hearing and Arbitration before the Authority for the
Settlement of Commercial Disputes pr omulgated by Royal Decree No. 32/82.
(c) Article 23 of the Patent Law promulgated by Royal Decree No. 82/2000.
(d) Article 38 of the Law on Trademarks, Indi cations and Secrets and Protection against
Unfair Competition promulgated by Royal Decree No. 38/2000.
(e) Article 47 of the Commercial Law pr omulgated by Royal Decree No. 55/90.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 28
8. Please describe any new initiatives that are planned to improve enforcement of
intellectual property rights in your country, particularly initiatives related to criminal
enforcement.
Article 23 of the Copyright and Related Rights Law provides that whoever infringes a literary
or financial right of the owners of the related right shall be penalised with imprisonment for a term of
not more than two years or a fine of not more than  two thousand Rial Omani or by either of these two
penalties.
VI. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UNITED STATES
A. G ENERAL
1. Please describe, in relation to each form of intellectual property covered by the TRIPS
Agreement, including plant variety protection, the manner in which national treatment and
most favoured nation treatment are provided to nationals of other WTO Members.
Royal Decree 92/2000 promulgated the Law on the  Protection of New Plant Varieties.
Article 7 of this law provides that the breeder's right, in accordance with this law, is enjoyed by
Omani nationals, Omani juridical persons, resident expatriates and foreign juridical persons located in
Oman and the subjects of countries that provide in their legislation protection for Omani national
protection not less than the protection stipulated in this law provided that they have legal residentagents.
B. C
OPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
2. Please explain whether and how the copyright law of Oman complies with Article 9 of
the TRIPS Agreement requiring that Members co mply with all Articles 1 through 21 of the
Berne Convention (1971), except Article 6bis, since Members do not have rights or obligations
relating to the latter Article under the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 9 of the TRIPS Agreement obligates member States to comply with the provisions of
Articles 1 to 21 of Berne Convention (1971) and it s Appendix.  According to Article 9.2 of the TRIPS
Agreement, copyright protection shall extend to expressions and not to ideas, procedures, methods of
operation or mathematical concepts as such.  There is nothing conflicting with this meaning in the
Law on the Protection of Copyright and Relate d Rights promulgated by the Royal Decree
No. 37/2000.
3. Please explain how the copyright law of Oman protects computer programs as literary
works and compilations of data as required by Article 10 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 13 of the Law on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights provides that
author's rights may not be seized pursuant to a court decision.  However copies of a published work
may be seized; works whose owners die before their publication may not be seized unless it is proven
beyond any doubt that such owners intended to publish such works before their death.
Article 14 provides that upon request from the author, the owner of the author's rights or their
successors in title, the competent court may order the following provisional measures:
• Put an end to the infringement of any right protected under this law.
• Seize the infringing copies of the work and the material used in making such copies.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 29
• Designate an official receiver for the work under conflict, who shall be responsible
for republication, presentation, manufacturing or the making of copies of the work.
The resulting proceeds shall be deposited with the Court Treasury.  Such receivership
shall cease by agreement between the concerned parties or by a court decision.
• Designate an expert to assess the proceeds of such republication or presentation if
necessary, and seize the income in all cases.
4. Article 11 of the TRIPS Agreement requires that rental rights for computer programs
and cinematographic works be available.  Please  cite to the corresponding provision of the
copyright law of Oman.
Article 10 of the Law on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights provides that the
author or the holder of author's right may transfer the economic rights in the work in whole or in part,
for free or against compensation- Such act must be made by a written contract specifying explicitly
and in details each right subject to the act with an indication of the scope, objective, period and place
of exploitation and the compensation, if any.
5. Please state the length and terms of protecti on the copyright law of Oman provides for a
work other than a photographic work or a work of applied art and cite to the relevant provision
of law.
Article 8 of the Copyright Law provides that the term of protection of author's financial rights
shall continue for fifty years from the date of  the first publication as to the following works:
cinematographic works, works of applied arts and photographs.
6. Please describe the protection the copyright law of Oman provides for performers, and
the term of the protection.
Performers enjoy the same protection mentioned in the answer to question 3.  As for the
protection period, Article 19 provides that:
"The term of protection of the rights of perf ormers and producers of sound recordings shall be
fifty years, under the Gregorian Calendar, from the beginning of the first year after the
starting date of the recording, fixation or performance, as the case may be."
7. Article 14.2 of the TRIPS Agreement provides that producers of phonograms are to
enjoy the right to authorize or prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction of their phonograms.
Article 14.2 requires that producers of phonograms are to have the right to authorize or
prohibit the commercial rental to the public of originals or copies of their phonograms.  Pleasedescribe how the copyright law of Oman implements these obligations and indicate the term of
protection.
Article 18 of the Copyright Law provides that producers of sound recordings shall enjoy the
following rights:
• Direct or indirect reproduction of their recordings.
• Commercial rental of their recordings.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 30
C. T RADEMARKS
8. Please describe the subject matter that can comprise a trademark under the trademark
law of Oman.
Article 1 of the Law on Trademarks, Indicati ons and Secrets and Protection against Unfair
Competition provides that a trademark means any visible form capable of being distinguished and
consists of words, signatures, personal names, letters, numbers, logos, symbols, addresses, seals,
engravings, combinations of colours, figurative el ements or any other sign or combination of such
elements, if it is used or intended to be used to distinguish goods, products or services as those of the
owner of the mark by reason of their manufacture, choice, sale or offering for sale.
9. Please describe the procedure that must be followed to register a trademark in Oman,
citing the relevant provisions of the law, and de scribe the rights that the owner of a registered
mark can exercise.
Application for the registration of the trademark is made on the form designated therefore,
signed by the applicant or his duly authorized agen t and accompanied with the fees for the registration
of the application.
• Application must be limited to the registration of one trademark.
• In case the applicant is a company non-existing in Oman, the application must be
accompanied with a power of attorney.
• The Department shall examine the application and if accepted, it shall be published in
one daily newspaper and the Official Gazette. Then a registration certificate shall be
issued if the mark is not objected to within the legal period and a period of two
months from the date of publication.
• The owner of the mark shall have the right to license the use of the mark, transfer its
ownership and to prevent its imitation.
10. Please provide the length and terms of protection that the trademark law of Oman
provides for a trademark.
Article 16 of the Law on Trademarks provides that:
"The term of protection resulting from the registration of the mark shall be ten years.  The
right holder may secure the continuity of such protection for similar periods by making a
request for renewal, within the last year and under the conditions prescribed by theregulations.  Within the month following the expiration of the term of protection, the registrar
shall send at the address of the owner of the mark a written notification of the expiration of
the mark.  If, within the six months following the expiration date, the owner of the mark fails
to make a request for renewal, the Registra r shall remove the mark from the Register ex
officio ."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 31
D. G EOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
11. Please describe in detail how the laws of Oman provide for the recognition and
protection of geographical indications required by Article 22.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, citing
to the relevant provisions of law or regulation, and provide examples of geographicalindications so protected.
Article 5 of the Law on the Protection and Geographical Indications provides that a good may
not be designated or presented to the public in a manner which suggests that it originates in a
geographical area other than the true place of origin, misleads the public or constitutes an act of unfair
competition, including the use of the false geographical indication with a mention of the true place of
origin of the good and the use of a geographical indication in translation or accompanied byexpressions such as kind, style or imitation.
We have no examples so far as these laws are new to us and the implementing regulations
have not been issued yet. However geographical i ndications in the Sultanate enjoy protection whether
they are registered or not.
12. Please describe in detail the manner in which the higher level of protection required for
wines and spirits under Article 23.2 of the TRIPS Agreement is implemented, citing to the
relevant provisions of law or regulation, and provide examples of geographical indications for
such products.
The law provides adequate protection for all geographical indications including wines and
spirits. (Refer to the previous answer)
E. I
NDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
13. Please describe the procedure that must be followed to obtain protection for industrial
designs, citing to the provisions of the law of Oman, and describe the nature of the protection
provided.
Registration of industrial designs is a must in order to obtain protection therefore as such
registration is considered a proof of ownership un less it is established otherwise. Article 12 of the
Law on the Protection of Industrial Designs provides that
"Any person who carries out any of the following acts shall be punishable by imprisonment
for a period not exceeding two years, a fine no t exceeding two thousand Rials Omani or both:
(a) Imitates an industrial design registered under this law.(b) knowingly sells, offers for sale, imports or processes with the intention to sell
products embodying an industrial design registered in Oman.
(c) illicitly affixes; on products, advertisements, trademarks, containers or other object
indications that may lead to believe that the object is a registered industrial design."
14. Please describe the procedure that must be followed to obtain protection for textile
designs and cite to the relevant provisions of law or regulation.
There is no special protection or treatment for textile designs as they are considered industrial
designs.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 32
F. P ATENTS
15. Please describe in detail the way in which the patent law of Oman implements Article 27
of the TRIPS Agreement, indicating any exceptions provided for, and including details
regarding the protection for micro-organisms and non-biological and microbiological processesand plant varieties.  Please cite to the relevant provisions of the law.
Article 4 of the Patent Law provides that:
"The following are not regarded as inventions according to the regulations of this law:
(a) Scientific theories, mathematical methods, computer programs, pure mental activities
and playing game;
(b) plant and animal research, or biological  methods for the production of plants, animals
or types of plant and animal.  Exempted from this Article are minute biology and its
produce;
(c) methods of surgical or medical treatment of human and animal body, and methods for
diagnosis of illnesses applied to humans or animals."
16. Please describe in detail the rights provided patent holders under the patent law of
Oman and cite to the relevant provisions of law.
Article 9 of the Patent Law provides that the patent entitles its owner to exploit the invention
by manufacturing, using such invention and importing what is manufactured thereof, selling and
offering it for sale whether the subject of the patent is a product or a process.  Third parties shall notexploit the patent without having the owner's consent.
17. Please describe in detail any provisions in the laws of Oman permitting unauthorized
use of a patent, citing to the relevant provisions of law, and describe in detail the conditions
under which such use can occur.
Article 15 of the Patent Law provides that:
"Three years after awarding the patent, whomever is concerned may request a compulsory
licence to utilize the invention for any of the following reasons:
(a) Not utilizing the patent actively and seriously within three years from being awarded;
(b) suspension of the utilization of the invention protected by the patent, by the patent
utilizer, for two consecutive years;
(c) the patent holder's refusal to grant license contact to utilize it, which may impact the
establishment, or development of industrial or commercial activities within the
Sultanate of Oman."IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 33
18. What term of protection does the patent law of Oman provide for patents?  Please
describe any provisions for extension of the term of protection and cite to the relevant
provisions of the law.
Article 11 of the Patent Law provides that patent protection period shall be twenty years, from
the date of obtaining the patent and the invention during the term from the date of applying for the
patent until the patent is obtained shall enjoy the same protection as determined for the patent.
G. L AYOUT -DESIGNS (TOPOGRAPHIES ) OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
19. Please describe in detail the protection for layout-designs of integrated circuits provided
under the laws of Oman, including the term of pr otection, and cite to the relevant provisions of
law.
Article 11 of the Law on the Protection of Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated
Circuits provides that, whoever:
• Reproduces a layout-design protected under this law without authorization of the
right holder;  or
• imports, sells or distributes a registered layout-design or a product incorporating an
integrated circuit without authorization of the right holder, shall be punished by aterm of imprisonment not to exceed two y ears or/and a fine of not more than two
thousand Rial Omani.
The protection period is ten years from the date of the filing of the registration application.
H. P
ROTECTION OF UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION
20. Please describe in detail how the laws of Oman provide for the protection of undisclosed
information as required by Article 39.2 of the TRIPS Agreement and provide citations to the
relevant provisions of law.
Article 34 of the Trade Marks, Data Secrets a nd Protection from Unfair Competition provides
that natural and legal persons shall not disclose information lawfully within their control in a mannercontrary to honest commercial practices so long as such information is secret in the sense that it is
unknown, has commercial value because it is secret or has been subject to reasonable steps to keep it
secret or not easily accessible to an ordinary person within the circles that normally deal with the kind
of information in question.
21. Please describe in detail the manner in which protection is provided test data regarding
pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical prod ucts submitted to the government in order to
obtain marketing approval in Oman and ci te to the relevant provisions of law.
Article 34 also provides that disclosure includes use of the data, tests or other undisclosed
information submitted to competent authorities in or der to obtain the marketing licenses necessary for
pharmaceuticals or of agricultural chemical products which utilize new chemical entities theoriginating of which resolves a considerable effort.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 34
22. Are other applicants for ma rketing approval for their own versions of a previously
approved pharmaceutical or agricultural chemical products permitted to rely on data submitted
by the earlier applicant?  If so, how long a period of exclusivity is given the earlier applicant
before such reliance becomes possible.
See the answers to questions 20 and 21.  Measures shall be detailed in the regulations to be
prepared.
I. E NFORCEMENT
23. Please describe in detail the manner in which the laws of Oman provide for effective
action against infringement of intellectual prop erty rights as required by Article 41.1 of the
TRIPS Agreement.
Answers to questions 23 to 26 are included in the Annex that contains all related matters to
enforcement and criminal procedures as provided in the different Omani laws, as there is no separate
enforcement law so far.
24. Article 43.1 of the TRIPS Agreement requires that judges be authorized to order
production of evidence necessary to substantiate a party’s claims where that party has been
unable to obtain such evidence from the opposi ng party.  Please describe how the laws or
regulations of Oman provide this authorization, citing to the relevant provisions of law orregulation.
Please see the reply to question 23.
25. Please describe in detail the all of the ci vil remedies that are available to right holders
under the laws of Oman, citing to the relevant provisions of law or regulation.
Please see the reply to question 23.
26. Please describe in detail the provisional procedures and remedies available to right
holders under the laws of Oman, citing to the relevant provisions of law and regulation, and
indicate any condition under which a right holder may avail itself of those procedures andremedies.
Please see the reply to question 23.
J. S
PECIAL REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO BORDER MEASURES
27. Please describe in detail the procedures under the laws of Oman that provide for border
enforcement at least for trademark counterfe iting and copyright piracy, identifying the
competent authority and citing to the re levant provisions of law or regulation.
See the Annex.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 35
28. Please indicate if border enforcement is available to owners of other forms of intellectual
property and, if so, please describe the procedures and remedies available in relation to each
form of intellectual property, citing the relevant provisions of law.
In the annex there are references to some border measures related to imports.  We may resort
to reference laws such as the unified customs law.   As for the competent authorities, they are the
Commercial Court, Customs and the Department of Intellectual Property, especially in relation to
trademarks.
29. Article 58 of the TRIPS Agreement specifies procedures to be followed where the
competent authorities can act ex officio.  Plea se explain whether the competent authorities in
Oman are empowered to act ex officio and, if so , please identify the intellectual property areas
subject to ex officio action.
In the event that the competent authorities receive information regarding infringement of
intellectual property rights, the infringing goods may be suspended or prevented form entering theSultanate. In case of counterfeit goods the authorities shall suspend them. The authorities have
recently conducted inspection campaigns on visual and audio tape shops and confiscated all limited
works.
K. C
RIMINAL PROCEDURES
30. Please describe in detail how the laws of Oman implement Article 61 of the TRIPS
Agreement that requires Members to have criminal procedures and penalties, including
imprisonment and/or monetary fines sufficient to act as a deterrent, at least for cases of wilful
trademark counterfeiting and copyright infringement  on a commercial scale.  Please cite to the
relevant provisions of law and regulation.
See the Annex.
31. Article 61 also requires that remedies in a ppropriate cases include the seizure, forfeiture
and destruction of infringing goods and any materials and implements the predominant use of
which has been the commission of the offence.  Please describe the provisions in the laws of
Oman that provide for such remedies, and desc ribe the circumstances in which those remedies
would be imposed, citing to the relevant provisions of law or regulation.
See the Annex.
32. Article 61 also indicates that Members may provide for criminal procedures and
penalties in cases of wilful infringement of oth er forms of intellectual property.  Please describe
any provisions of the laws of Oman that provide for such procedures and remedies, citing to the
relevant provisions of law or regulation.
See the Annex.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 36
L. S TATISTICAL QUESTIONS
33. Please provide statistical information related  to civil copyright, trademark, geographical
indication, industrial design, patent, integr ated-circuit layout design, and trade secret
enforcement for 2000, including the number of cases filed; injunctions issued; infringing
products seized; infringing equipment seized; cases resolved (including settlement); and the
amount of damages awarded.
No statistics can be available as to geographical indications, industrial designs, patents,
integrated circuits and trade secrets for the year 2000 as the executive regulations have not been
issued yet.  The statistics for trademark are as follows:
2,822 applications for the registration of trademarks.
1,183 trademarks registered
1,018 applications for the examination of marks.
1,416 entries of trademark data.
86 assignments.
244 transfer and property.
4,249 file studies.
1,044 renewals of trademarks.
The number of applications for filing intellectual works in 2000 amounted to 96 filing applications for
which 96 certificates were issued.
34. Please provide statistical information relat ed to criminal enforcement in the area of
copyright piracy and trademark infringeme nt for 2000, including the number of raids,
prosecutions, convictions, and the amount of fines and/or jail terms (including whether the fineswere paid and whether the jail term was actually served or was suspended) and any other
information establishing that the criminal syst em operates effectively to deter copyright piracy
and trademark counterfeiting.
In the year 2000, 55,000 audio-visual works including computer programs were confiscated.
As for deterrent laws, we have addressed them with in the answers related to enforcement and criminal
procedures.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 37
ANNEX
ALL LAWS ON ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURES
IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN
Patent Law 82/2000
Article (9):
The Patent entitles its holder the right to utilize the invention by manufacturing, usage, import
whatever is being manufactured and offer it for sale, whether the subject of the invention wasmaterial produce, industrial operation or manufacturing process. Others may not utilize the
patent without the patent holder's permission.
Article (21):
In the event of any illegal act, or violation of this law or the licence awarded in accordance
with its provisions, the patent holder, or whomever some or all the patent's rights have been
assigned to, in accordance with this law, may request the competent court to issue a
provisional seizure on the invention and the installation used or utilized for the invention, or
part therefrom.
Article (23):Anyone requesting a provisional seizure should deposit a bond, to be specified by the court,
prior to the seizure order. The confiscator should raise the subjective case within eight daysfrom the court's order, otherwise it shall be considered as null and void.
Article (24):Without prejudice to any greater penalty stipulated by another law, anyone submitting false or
incorrect documents or information to obtain a patent, or anyone forging an invention or
manufacturing process, or encroached intentionally upon any right protected by this law, shallbe punished by imprisonment for not more than two years and/or a fine not exceeding
Rial Omani two thousand.
The Court may order the seizure of confiscated items, or its destruction, together with the
machinery and equipment used in the forgery.
Penal Code No 7/74:
Article (307):
Shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of three months to two years and a fine of
Rial Omani ten to three hundred, whoever imitates an invention or an industrial design
registered in the territory of the Sultanate or ab road to make profit or to cause damage to the
owner of such invention or industrial design.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 38
Law of Trademarks 38/2000
Article (35):
A punishment by imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and /or a fine not
exceeding two thousand Rial Omani. shall be applicable to any person who:
(i) Counterfeits a mark registered under this Law, imitates such mark in a manner that is
likely to mislead the public or uses in bad faith a counterfeited or imitated mark;
(ii) knowingly sells, offers for sale or circulation, possesses with the intention to sell,
products bearing a counterfeited, imitated or illicitly placed mark;
(iii) uses in bad faith a mark identical with or similar to a well-known marks, whether
registered or not registered, in a manner that is likely to mislead the public, provided
that, in the case of a well-known mark that is not registered, goods or services areidentical or similar;
(iv) contravenes in bad faith provisions on trade indications;(v) intentionally contravenes provisions on unfair competition or protection of trade
secrets.
Article (36):The owner of a mark may, at any time even before filing a commercial or criminal action,
request, by a petition accompanied by an official certificate of the registration of the mark,
that the chief judge of the Commerce Court issues an order to take the necessary conservative
measures, particularly the seizure of equipment and implements likely to be used or
effectively used in committing the offence.  The same shall apply to product, goods, titles,
packages, papers or whatever bears the infringing mark or indications.  Such seizure may be
executed upon importation of the goods. The order may include the designation of an expert
or more to assist in the seizure and require that the person making the request makes adeposit.
Article (38):In any commercial or criminal action, the competent court may decide to confiscate the
material seized or to be seized to deduct its value from damages or fines or dispose thereof in
any other manner considered convenient by the court.
In addition, the court may decide the destruction of illegal marks and, when necessary,
products, packages, wrapping material titles, catalogues and other material bearing suchmarks or illegal indications.  It may also order the destruction of equipment and implements
particularly used in counterfeiting. Such orders may be issued even in the case where a
judgement of non guilty is rendered.
The court may order the publication of the decision in the Official Gazette at the expense of
the person against whom the decision was pronounced.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 39
Oman Penal Code 7/74
Article (305):
Shall be punished by imprisonment for a tern of three months to three years and a fine
between Rial Omani 20 and 500 whoever imitates a distinguishing registered mark belonging
to a third party, whatever its shape may be, or places such mark on any product or a
commercial commodity.  Also, the same punish ment shall apply to whoever, knowingly,
offers for sale or sells a product or a commodity bearing such imitated mark.
Article (306):Shall be punished by imprisonment for a term  between two mouth and two years and a fine of
not less than Rial Omani 20 (twenty) and not more than Rial Omani 300 (three hundred)
whoever make a mark similar to a registered mark with the intention of swindling without
imitating such mark, and whoever uses such similar mark or sell or offer for sale a productbearing such mark if his act may mislead the buyer.
Article (307):Shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between three months and two years and a fine
of ten Rial Omani to Rial Omani three hundred whoever illegally uses, in any way, the trade
name of a third party even if the illegally used name is a little bit distorted or associated with
an epithet other than that of the owner of such trade name or with any expression that keeps
the distinguishing letters of the name and leads to confusion.
Commercial Law No 55/90
Article (47):
Where a tradename is used by a person other than its owner or if used by its owner in a
manner inconsistent with the law, the parties concerned may apply for ban on its use.  They
may also apply for the deletion thereof if it is recorded in the Commercial Register and mayalso have recourse to compensation where there is cause.
Article (48):The merchant may not resort to deception and fraud in disposing of his goods and shall not
publish false information in respect thereof which is damaging to the interests of another
competing merchant, otherwise he shall be liable for compensation.
Article (49):
The merchant may not disseminate any particulars, which are inconsistent with fact as regards
the origin or description of his goods or the importance of his trade.  Neither may he declare
contrary to fact that he holds a degree or certificate or award nor resort to any other method,
which misleads with intent to entice clients from another competing merchant, otherwise he
shall be liable to pay compensation.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 40
Article (50):
A merchant may not induce the workers or empl oyees of another merchant to assist him in
enticing clients from such merchant or to leave the service of the latter to enter into hisservice and disclose to him the secrets of his competitor.  Such activities shall be deemed
unlawful competition, which requires compensation.
Article (5l):A person whose profession it is to provide commercial entities with information on the
situation of merchants and who in return for a fee deliberately or by way of gross negligencesupplies false information about the conduct or financial position of a merchant shall be liable
to compensate for the damage caused by this error.
Law on the Protection of Industrial Designs No. 39/2000
Article (12):Any person who carries out any of the following acts shall be punishable by imprisonment for
a period not exceeding two years, a fine not exceeding two thousand Rial Omani or both:
(a) Imitates an industrial design registered under this law;
(b) knowingly sells, offers for sale, import or  processes with the intention to sell products
embodying an industrial design registered in Oman;
(c) illicitly affixes on products, advertisements, trademarks, containers or other object
indications that may lead to believe that the object is a registered industrial design.
Article (13):The rights holder in an industrial design may request from the chief judge of the Competent
Court or any judge designated by him from that Court to issue an order to take the necessary
conservative measures, such as preventing third parties from manufacturing, selling or
importing for commercial purposes goods which embody, wholly or partly, a protected
industrial design, and seizing used equipment or implements.  The same shall apply to
products, goods, packages, papers or others.
An action on the merits shall be filed with the Competent Court within fifteen days from the
date of witch the order was issued, failure of which shall cause the measures to cease to have
affect.
Law on the Protection of Geographical Indications No 40/2000
Article (5):A good may not be designated or presented to the public in a manner which suggests that it
originates in a geographical area other than the true place of origin, misleads the public orconstitutes an act of unfair competition, including the use of a false geographical indication
with a mention of the true place of origin of the good and the use of a geographical indication
in translation or accompanied by expressions such as kind, style and imitation.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 41
Article (6):
Any interested person may, pursuant to Article (2), request that an order be issued by the
chief judge of the Commerce Court or a judge de signate by him from the Court to take the
necessary conservative measures, including in particular, seizure of goods, products,
packages, papers or the same.
An action on the merits shall be filed with the competent department of the Commerce Court
within fifteen days from the date at which the order was issued, failure of which shall cause
the measures to cease to have effect.
Article (11):
Any person who intentionally commits any of the acts mentioned in Article (5) of this law
shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, a fine not
exceeding two thousand Rial Omani or both.
Law on the Protection of Topographies Righ ts of Integrated Circuits No 41/2000
Article (4):
The holder of the layout-design shall have alone the right to exploit commercially the
layout-design.  No other person shall have the right to import, reproduce, sell or distribute any
protected layout-design, unless having obtained a written authorization from the holder of the
right to explore the layout-design commercially or the successors in title.
Article (9):
The right holder may request from the chief judge of the Court of Commerce or a judge
designated by him from that Court to issue an order have the necessary conservative
measures, particularly the seizure of implements used.  The same shall apply to product,
goods or others.
An action on the merits shall be filed with the competent department within fifteen days from
the date at which the order was issued, failure of which shall cause the measures to cease to
have effect.
Article (11):Any person who carries out any of the following acts shall be punishable by imprisonment for
a period not exceeding two years, a fine not exceeding two thousand Rial Omani or both:
(a) Reproduces a layout-design protected under this law without the authorization of the
right holder;
(b) imports, sells, or distributes a registered layout-design or product incorporating an
integrated circuit without the authorization of the right holder.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
Page 42
Law on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights No. 37/2000
Article (14):
Upon request from the author, owner of the aut hor's tights or their successors in title, the
competent court may decide to order the following conservative measures be taken:
(a) Put an end to the infringement of any right protected under this law;(b) seize infringing copies of the work and material used to make these copies;
(c) prove the existence of a public performance in case of execution, representation or
public recitation of a work, and discontinue or prevent the display of the show;
(d) designate an official receiver for the work under conflict, who shall be responsible for
the publication, presentation, manufacturing or making of copies of the work;  theresulting proceeds shall be deposited with the Court Treasury. Such receivership shall
cease by agreement between the concerned parties or by a court decision.
(e) designate an expert to assess the proceeds of such publication, or presentation, where
necessary, and seize the income in all cases.
The plaintiff shall file an action on the merits of  the case with the Court within the following
fifteen days, for a decision on the merits and appropriate damages to be granted.  Otherwise,
the measures shall cease to have effect.
Article (23):
Infringement of any moral or economic right of authors or holders of related rights under this
Law shall be punished by imprisonment for a maximum period of two years, by a maximum
fine of two thousand Rial Omani or both.  In particular, any of the following acts shall be
considered infringements:
(a) Selling or making available, by any means, a work protected under the provisions of
this law;
(b) imitating in Oman a work published abroad, or knowingly making available,
exporting or shipping abroad such imitation;
(c) communicating or making available to the public, a performance, broadcast or sound
recording through a computer network for commercial purposes;
(d) illicit removal or alteration of any technical protection intended to regulate or limit
public access to the work, performance, broadcast or recording, or distribution, import
for distribution purposes, broadcasting or making available to the public of the above,
provided that the person who commits th e act knows or has grounds to know the
committed infringement.IP/Q/OMN/1, IP/Q2/OMN/1,
IP/Q3/OMN/1, IP/Q4/OMN/1
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Law on Control of Artistic Works No. 609/97
Article  (5):
Non original artistic works shall not be circulated, sold or displayed except by authorization
of the producer or the authorized agent in Oman.
Article (25):Whoever contravenes the provisions of paragraph first, second and third or Article (3) this
Law shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not more than two years and for a fineof not less than Rial Omani one thousand and not more than Rial Omani two thousand. Such
punishment shall be doubled in case of recurrence.
Article (3):
None of the following acts shall be performe d without authorization from the Ministry in
connection with artistic works:
(a) Their phonography, recording, reproduction or alteration with the aim of exploiting
them;
(b) their import or export;(c) their distribution, rental, circulation or sale.
Article (30):
The provisions of this Law shall not apply to artistic works imported for personal use, and
shall be punished whoever imports them and agrees to their reproduction for commercial
purposes or circulation by the penalty set forth in Article (25) of this Law.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Unified Customs Law
Article (24):Customs authorities shall prevent the entry, transit or exit of prohibited or impinging goods
according to the provisions of this Law or any other Law or decision.  Restricted goods shallnot be accorded entry, transit or exit except by approval of the state competent authority.
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