RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/ACC/SPEC/OMN/5
26 January 1998
(98-0272)
Working Party on the Accession
of the Sultanate of OmanOriginal:  English
ACCESSION OF THE SULTANATE OF OMAN
Communication from the Sultanate of Oman
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Sultanate of Oman has submitted the
following information concerning the present status, on-going work and future programme for the
implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.
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Present Status and Future Programme for Implementation
of the TRIPS Agreement
I. GENERAL
1. The Sultanate of Oman has become a member of the WIPO as of February 1997, which was a
major step in its preparation for implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.
2. Oman has at present intellectual property laws in the areas of copyright and trademarks.
Oman has also adopted the GCC Unified Patent System.
3. There are no intellectual property laws in other areas such as industrial designs, geographical
indications, layout designs of integrated circuits, etc.
4. The existing laws require to be amended to bring these into conformity with the provisions of
the TRIPS Agreement, and new laws have to be enacted in areas where there are no laws at present.
There is no lack of will on the part of Oman to fully implement the TRIPS Agreement.  However, the
process of enacting new laws and amending existing laws is a time-consuming affair as a number of
steps and procedures are required before a Royal Decree can be issued.
5. The most difficult area is "enforcement".  It requires a body of new laws in terms of
Articles 41 to 61 of the TRIPS Agreement, and more importantly, it requires intensive training of
officers and staff of different Ministries to ensure that the laws are effectively implemented.
6. During the last couple of years, the Sultan ate of Oman has organized two seminars on TRIPS
in Muscat with the assistance of WIPO and its officials have participated in six seminars and
workshops held in Geneva or in other countries in the region.  This demonstrates the preparatory
process undertaken by the Sultanate of Oman towards implementing the TRIPS Agreement.
7. The rationale for the transitional period is given in detail in section II of
document WT/ACC/SPEC/OMN/1.WT/ACC/SPEC/OMN/5
Page 2
8. The following paragraphs attempt to give a progress report on the present status, on-going
work and future programme for the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.
A. TRADEMARKS
(a) Present status
9. The Sultanate of Oman has a Trademark Law as of 1987.  Paragraphs 154-155 of the
Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime of Oman (document WT/ACC/OMN/2), replies 271-287in document WT/ACC/OMN/5 and replies 161-163 in document WT/A CC/OMN/6/Add.1 give a brief
description of the present Trademark Law.
(b) Work in progress
10. Experts from the WIPO were invited by the Government to visit Oman to study its Trademark
Law and to advise on necessary changes to brin g it into conformity with the TRIPS Agreement.
WIPO experts visited Oman and submitted a detailed 18-page report in February 1997, identifying
numerous amendments that should be made to bring the Trademark Law into conformity with theTRIPS Agreement.
11. The report of WIPO experts is under examination of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
in consultation with the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
(c) Future programme
12. Because of the numerous changes to the Trademark Law, as suggested by WIPO experts, and
because of the lengthy legislative process (which will be initiated soon), the Sultanate of Oman will
implement the trademark-related part of the TRIPS Agreement at the latest by 1 January 2000.
B. COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
(a) Present status
13. The Sultanate of Oman enacted a Copyright Law in June 1996 which is now in force.  A brief
description of the Copyright Law may be found in paragraphs 150-153 of
document WT/ACC/OMN/2, in replies 259-270 in  document WT/ACC/OMN/5, replies 8-10 in
document WT/ACC/OMN/6 and in replies 157-160 in document WT /ACC/OMN/6/Add.1.
(b) Work in progress
14. WIPO was requested to send its experts to Oman to study the compatibility of its Copyright
Law with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, to identify deficiencies and inconsistencies and to
suggest suitable amendments.  Its experts visited Oman in the first half of 1997 and submitted a report
identifying problem areas.
15. Intellectual property experts of the United States have provided assistance in 1997 by way of
identifying some areas where the Copyright Law falls short of the provisions of the TRIPSAgreement.  Both the WIPO report and the report of United States' experts are under consideration by
the competent authorities of Oman.WT/ACC/SPEC/OMN/5
Page 3
(c) Future programme
16. In light of the two reports and decisions thereon by the competent authorities, the process of
amending the Copyright Law will soon be initiated and will be completed by 1 January 2000.  This
will include, inter alia , providing a period of protection of 50 years for all categories, including films
and radio and television broadcasts.
17. However, enforcement in this area presents particular problems.  Whereas, enforcement of
intellectual property rights in respect of literary works will be ensured as from the date Oman joins the
WTO, enforcement for the rights of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting
organizations will be ensured as from 1 January 2000, and for computer software and databases after
five years from the date of accession.
C. PATENTS
(a) Present status
18. The Sultanate of Oman has adopted the GCC Unified Patent System.(b) Work in progress
19. Oman is in contact with its GCC partners regarding implementation of the Unified Patent
System.  Meanwhile, the legal position is being examined, in consultation with WIPO, whether the
Unified Patent System itself is enough or Oman needs to frame national rules and regulations on the
lines of the Unified Patent System.
(c) Future programme
20. Since the patent system has to be implemented jointly by all GCC countries and since other
GCC countries which are already Members of the WTO have a transitional period up to
1 January 2000, the Sultanate of Oman will not be able to implement the patents part of the TRIPS
Agreement before that date.
D. GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
(a) Present status
21. There is no legislation at present on geographical indications.
(b) Work in progress
22. The competent authorities of Oman are examining the issue to decide whether a separate law
is needed for this purpose or if a suitable amendment can be made in the Trademark Law.
(c) Future programme
23. Implementation whether by a separate law or by amendment of the Trademark Law will be
ensured by 1 January 2000.WT/ACC/SPEC/OMN/5
Page 4
E. INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
(a) Present status
24. There is no legislation at present on industrial designs.
(b) Work in progress
25. Technical assistance has been sought from WIPO to advise on an appropriate law for
protection of industrial designs.  It is being considered whether this should be done by a separatepiece of legislation or by having a separate section in the patent regulations.  In the latter case, a
coordinated action with GCC countries will be necessary.
(c) Future programme
26. Because of the complexity of the issue, implementation will be possible by
31 December 2002.
F. LAYOUT DESIGN OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
(a) Present status
27. There is no legislation on this item at present.(b) Work in progress
28. Technical assistance is being sought from the WIPO to advise on the subject.(c) Future programme
29. As this is a new field, a transition period of five years from the date of accession to the WTO
will be needed.
G. ENFORCEMENT
(a) Present status
30. Penalties for violations of the Trademark Law and the Copyright Law are provided in the
respective Laws (reference paragraphs 160-162 in document WT/ACC/OMN/2).  However, there areno legal provisions in Omani laws on the lines of Articles 41 to 61 of the TRIPS Agreement.
(b) Work in progress
31. Attention is at present focused on amending or enacting substantive laws for protection of
intellectual property rights.  Once there is progress on that, the question of having detailed laws for
enforcement compatible with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement will be attended to.
32. Meanwhile, a preliminary programme of training of officials is in progress by way of
organizing seminars in Oman and by deputing officials to attend seminars in other countries.  As
stated earlier, two seminars have been held in Oman and Omani officials have participated in six
seminars in Geneva or in other countries.WT/ACC/SPEC/OMN/5
Page 5
(c) Future programme
33. The task of drafting new laws on enforcement will be taken in hand with the technical
assistance of WIPO.  Also training activities will be intensified with the assistance of WIPO.
However, realistically it would be impossible to  ensure enforcement compatible with the TRIPS
Agreement before the end of five years from the date of Oman's accession to the WTO.
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