Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property

The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, SAIP, is the entity responsible for regulating intellectual property fields, protecting the rights of owners in various domains, and raising awareness about the importance of this field and its connection to nation-building, laws, regulations, and international agreements. It is organizationally linked to the Prime Minister.

The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property was established by a resolution of the Council of Ministers in 2017. The headquarters of the authority is located in the capital, Riyadh, and it has a board of directors consisting of a chairman and six members.

The authority established an advisory council by a decision of the CEO to contribute to developing the authority's objectives and providing advice, opinions, and recommendations on all matters aimed at enhancing all areas related to intellectual property within the authority. It studies the objectives, strategies, and policies related to the authority and its future, ensuring alignment with global changes.

Safeguarding copyright is one of the prominent tasks of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property. The authority handled around 1,376 cases related to copyright, including 1,023 cases in 2021. Copyright is a creative domain within intellectual property, granting authors or creators the right to use and exploit their work, as well as preventing others from using or benefiting from it without their consent. As part of its work, the authority received 194 complaints of trademark violations in various provinces of the Kingdom during the same year.

In 2021, the authority conducted approximately 2,286 mystery shopper visits, which are covert monitoring operations at stores and areas suspected of intellectual property rights violations. Qualified mystery shoppers are deployed to act as customers or buyers. Additionally, the authority conducted 3,991 electronic inspection visits, resulting in the blocking and removal of 2,079 websites and content violating intellectual property laws. Moreover, over 95,000 items infringing on intellectual property rights were seized.

The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property has identified three objectives for the National Intellectual Property Strategy, which include: fostering creative individuals through imagination and challenge, developing commercial establishments through intellectual property, and promoting a society that respects creative efforts.

The number of applications submitted to the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property as of October 2022, regarding patent registrations, reached approximately 3,979 requests, 38,130 applications for trademark registration, and 1.400 applications for industrial design deposits.

In 2020, the Kingdom joined the Strasbourg Agreement concerning the International Patent Classification and the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for Patent Procedure, with the World Intellectual Property Organization.