Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia. De jure Syrian territory borders Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.

Patent

Syria has been a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) since June 26, 2003. The patent application should be filed to the Patent Office at the Syrian Proprietary Protection Department, along with all the required papers and documentation.

A Patent application is usually refereed to university professors and scholars specialized in patent issues who lay down a report as to whether the patent has a practical industrial application on the basis of which the ad hoc committee decides whether to grant the patent or not. (This step takes 2-3 years).

It is possible to file a national application of the PCT international application in Syria during the 31-month period.

As for the national applications of PCT, the Patent Office relies mainly on the intentional preliminarily examination report to decide on granting the patent in Syria or not. This procedure could take one year or so. However, this is not always the rule, sometimes; such applications are also referred to Research Centers for consideration.

Trademark

Syria is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and it follows the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement. Besides, a new law, under No. 8 of 2007, was enacted in Syria for Distinctive Marks, Geographical Indications and Industrial Drawings and Designs. The law entered into force on April 12 and its Implementing Regulations were issued on April 15, 2007.

Single class system for trademark applications is adopted in Syria, i.e. each class relating to the same trademark should be covered by separate application.

The applicant, whose application was rejected or suspended pending certain conditions or amendments, may object in writing to the decision of the Property Protection Office mentioned to the competent ad hoc committee within 30 days from the date on which the decision was served to him in writing, in return for payment of the assigned fee. If the ad hoc committee rejects the applicant's objection, the applicant can appeal before the competent court within 30 days from the date on which the ad hoc committee's decision has been served to him in writing.

Accepted applications fulfilling the stipulated requirements shall be published in the property protection journal for opposition by the public. Any interested party may object in writing to the application for the registration of a mark to the Property Protection Office after payment of the specified fee within 90 days of the date of publication. The Property Protection Office shall inform the applicant or his agent of the objection during a period of 30 days from the date of receipt.

 Copyright

Syria is a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. In addition, copyright protection in Syria is governed by Law No. 12 of 2001. The Syrian Copyright Protection Department (CPD) started entertaining copyright applications in Syria, but the governmental fees will be paid later on, once specified.

The present copyright applications filed in Syria, whereby the applicants get filing reports only. A new copyright and related rights is expected to be issued in Syria replace the existing law.

Industrial Design

In Syria, the industrial design or model shall be considered new if it has not been disclosed to the public anywhere in the world in any way, including substantial use or publication whether prior to the date of filing an application for registration or before the date of the priority application, as appropriate. However, the industrial design or model shall not lose the novelty element if the disclosure or description has taken place after filing an application for registration in any country member to any relevant Convention valid in Syria and provides reciprocal treatment to Syria, or whether the disclosure has taken place in a national or international exhibitions or the industrial design or model was published in a conference or a scientific periodical during a period not exceeding six months prior to the date of filing an application for registration in Syria.

It is possible to apply for multi-design application (up to five homogeneous models) provided that they form a unit in subject, with separate fees for each of them. The multi-design applications will be processed simultaneously. The design applications accepted by the Property Protection Dept will be published for opposition by the public.