IP OVERVIEW OF ISRAEL

As a member of the PCT and WTO and signatory of the Paris Convention, TRIPS, the Berne convention and many more (listed below), Israel enjoys a full array of IP protection including patents, designs, trademarks and copyrights.

Patent

In order to be registered, a patent application in Israel must be new, useful, capable of industrial or agricultural application, and possess an inventive step. Universal novelty is required. Patent applications can be filed in English or Hebrewand applicants of Israeli patent applications must provide a correspondence address in Israel.

Israel is a receiving office for the PCT patents as well as a searching authority. Israel has a unique advantage over other national patent offices insofar as applications are not published until allowance.

No distinction is made between foreign and local entities in filing for patent protection in Israel. Applicant enjoys almost automatic allowance of granted patents from Austria, Australia, US, Germany, Denmark, UK, Russian Fed., Japan, European Union, Norway, Canada, and Switzerland. In the same vein, any patent with a positive PCT International Search Report will be allowed almost automatically by the Israeli Patent Authority.

Allowed applications are published for 3rd party opposition 3 months prior to the registration. Patent term is 20 years from the earliest priority date.Patent term extensions are allowable–up to 5 years for pharmaceutical patents.

Trademark

Any letters, numbers, words, devices, or other signs, or combination thereof, whether two-dimensional or three dimensional, in any language, which are adapted to distinguish the goods or services of the proprietor from those of other persons may be registered in Israel, and the registration of trademarks which are slogans is allowed.

The current waiting period before examination is slightly more than a year.Grounds for refusal can be both relative (conflicting marks) and absolute (the mark should be distinct and not descriptive). Classification of goods or services conforms to the International Classification of goods and services (Nice Classification). No actual use is required for the registration, however a mark unused for 3 consecutive years can be canceled. Israel uses a multi-class system, i.e. no separate application is required for each class.

Priority can be claimed according to the Paris Convention (6 months).Applications are published for 3rd parties’ opposition 3 months prior to registration. Renewal is required every 10 years from the original filing date (for applications registered after 6 Aug. 2003). An applicant has a 6-month grace period after the 10th anniversary to renew its mark.

Israel's Customs can be alerted to seize counterfeit goods.

Copyright

Israel’s copyright law is based on the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, to which it is signatory. Protection is available for literary works, animation, musical works, sound recordings, software, databases, architecture works, and graphic arts including photographs.  

The author's original works are protected from the date of creation until 70 years after the author's death. No registration of rights is required. However, depositing a copy in a law firm is recommended. Israel grants protection to performers of literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works for 50 years from the date of the performance.

Moral rights are recognized by law, specifically the right of attribution (requirement to acknowledge or credit the author of a work which is used in another work), and the right of integrity (right of an author to prevent others from doing things to his work which can hurt his reputation, such as distorting, mutilating or misrepresenting his work.)

Design

Design application may be filed for any object or product with a novel, original and distinct shape or ornaments.

Designs are registered for 5 years and can be extended twice for a total of 15 years. Novelty of designs in Israel considers any design that was not published in Israel (however, publication over the internet might be considered in Israel).

Only one item may be registered with each application; an application for a set of items used or sold together is allowed.

Israel's copyright law denies copyright protection for the design elements of industrial articles, thus industrial articles should be protected as designs. As for other intellectual properties the design owner enjoys the exclusive right to use, manufacture, supply, import, and export, and has the right to stop any third party from using the design without the owner’s consent.