With respect to performers, Article 15 of the draft Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights provides: "Performers shall enjoy in respect of their performances the following exclusive rights: i) To broadcast or communicate their unfixed performances to the public. ii) To fix their unfixed performances on phonograms. iii) To reproduce their fixed performances on phonograms. iv) Authorise commercial rental or lending to the public of an original or copies of their fixed performances." With respect to producers of phonograms, Article 17 of the draft Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights provides that producers of phonograms enjoy the following exclusive rights: i) Prevent any exploitation of their recording in any manner, without prior written authorization, directly or indirectly, including in particular; reproduction, renting, lending, broadcasting or making available to the public through computers or the Internet or other means of technology. ii) Making their recordings available to the public by wire or wireless means or through computers or any other means of technology. With respect to broadcasting organizations, Article 18 of the draft Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights provides that broadcasting organizations enjoy the following exclusive rights: a) fixation and reproduction of their broadcasts; b) rebroadcasting by wireless means of their broadcasts; c) communication to the public of their television broadcasts; and d) licensing the exploitation of their fixed or unfixed broadcasts.

The draft Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights provides for certain limitations and exceptions to the rights indicated in the response to question 5. These are consistent with the limitations and exceptions allowed under the TRIPS Agreement. The limitations and exceptions are provided under Articles 19 to 24 of the draft Law.

With respect to performers, Article 34 of the draft Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights provides the term of protection to a performance for a period of 50 years computed from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following the year in which the performance was first fixed on a phonogram or, in the absence of such fixation, the year in which the performance took place. With respect to producers of phonograms, Article 35 of the draft Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights provides that the term of protection shall last until the end of a period of 50 years computed from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following the year in which the publication of the phonogram was made or, in the absence of publication, the year in which the performance took place. With respect to broadcasting organizations, Article 36 of the draft Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights provides that the protections shall last until the end of a period of 20 years computed from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following the year in which the broadcast took place.

This is accounted for in Articles 63 and 64 of the draft Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights. While Article 64 provides that the new Law shall come into effect upon its publication in the Official Gazette, Article 63 provides : The provisions of this Law, with the exception of Articles 49 to 53, shall apply also to works, performances phonograms and broadcasts dating back to before the date of the coming into effect of this Law, provided that the term of protection had not expired under the previous legislation or under the legislation of the country of origin of such works, performances, phonograms or broadcasts that are to be protected or under an agreement or treaty to which the State of Bahrain is party. The Law shall not effect contracts on works, performances, phonograms and broadcasts concluded before the entering into force of this Law.

Article 1 of the draft Law on Trademarks provides: "A trademark is any distinctive sign comprised names, works, signatures, letters, symbols, numerals, addresses, seals, designs, pictures, engravings, figurative elements, shapes, wrappings, combination of colours or any combination of such visible signs if used, or intended to be used , for distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings or to indicate the provision of a particular service. Sound and smell may form part of the trademark." Article 3 of the draft Law provides that the following shall not be considered as registerable trademarks and their application for registration shall not be accepted if they have any of the following descriptions: a) Marks that are devoid of any distinctive character or consist of signs that customarily designate the goods or services or the common drawings or pictures of the goods or services. b) Any expression, drawing, picture or mark that is contrary to public order or morality. c) Honorary signs, public and military insignia, flags and other symbols belonging to the State of Bahrain or Arab or international organizations or any of their institutions or belonging to any of the states that accord similar treatment in this respect to the State of Bahrain as well as any imitation of the foregoing matters. d) Symbols of the Red Crescent or Red Cross and emblems of the same character as well as all imitations thereof. e) Similar or identical marks to the symbols that have a purely religious character. f) Geographical names and indications if their use is likely to cause confusion with respect to the origin or source of the goods or services. g) Marks that are likely to mislead the public or that contain false details about the origin or source of the goods or services or their other qualities as well as marks that contain a false, imitated or fictitious commercial name. h) Name of another person or his surname, photograph or emblems unless he or his heirs give their prior approval to the use thereof. i) Particulars relating to honorary titles which the applicant for registration thereof is unable to prove that he is legally entitled to use for such purposes. j) Marks that are identical or similar to a mark that was previously registered by others for the same goods or services for which the mark is to be registered or for an item thereof or a mark that is similar to the aforesaid mark to an extent that may lead to misleading others; or marks the registration of which for certain goods or services may undermine the value of the goods or services that are distinguished by the said mark. k) Any mark, or a fundamental part thereof, which is identical, similar or constitutes a copy, imitation or translation of a well-known trademark for its use to distinguish similar or identical goods or services to the goods or services for which it is famous and is likely to cause confusion with the well-known trade mark or for its use for goods or services in a manner that is likely to cause damage to the owner of the wellknown trade mark and indicates a relationship between it and such goods or services. l) Marks that contain the following words or expressions: 'licence', 'registered', 'registered drawing', 'copyright' or such similar words and expressions.

Please refer to the definition of a trademark provided in the response to question 9.

Article 4 of the draft Law on Trademarks provides that either use or intended use qualifies for registration. The draft Law does not include a definition of "use". Article 19(b) provides that the court may, upon application by any party with interest, order the registration to be cancelled if satisfied that the trademark has not been used for an uninterrupted period of 5 years for no valid reason.

By virtue of Article 19(b) of the draft Law the registration of a trademark is indefinitely renewable. Article 19(b) provides that the protection of a registered mark shall be for 10 years from the filing date in the State of Bahrain and the right holder may request the renewal of the registration for other equivalent periods provided that he files a request for renewal during the last year of the a particular term of protection.

There are no requirements prescribed in the draft Law concerning use of a trademark except as provided under Article 19(b) indicated above under the response to question 11 above.

By virtue of Article 3(f) and (g) of the draft law on Trademarks, the following are not registerable as trademarks. - those which are identical or similar to geographical names and indication if they are likely to be misleading as regards the origin or source of a good or service. - those which are likely to mislead the public or contain false information concerning the origin or source of a good or service or concerning other features, as well as those which include a fictitious, imitated or counterfeit trade name.

Article 1 of the draft Law on Geographical Indications defines Geographical Indications as follows: Geographical indications are, for the purposes of this law, geographical statements which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member of the World Trade Organization or a State that accord similar treatment to the State of Bahrain, where the quality, reputation or other characteristics of the goods is essentially attributable to such geographical origin.

Please see the response to question 14.

The draft Law on Geographical Indications explicitly implements Article 22 of the TRIPS Agreements. Additional protection, such as that provided for under Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement, may be sought based on Article 13 of the draft Law which provides that any person may claim a more favourable protection if it is provided for by virtue of any agreements, convention or treaty to which Bahrain is party.

By virtue of Article 9 of the draft Law on Geographical Indications the following are not considered as violations of the provisions of the said Law: a) use of a geographical indication, in any manner, if such indication is identical with the term customary in common language as the common name for certain good or service in the State of Bahrain. b) use by any person, or that of his predecessor in the course of trade, in a manner that does not mislead the public. c) use of a geographical indication which is not or ceases to be protected in the country of origin, or which has fallen into disuse in that country. The draft Law does not contain examples of names considered as generic.

Article 6(c) of the draft Law on Industrial Designs provides that it is prohibited to register industrial designs that are dictated essentially by technical or functional consideration. By virtue of Article 1 of the draft Law on Industrial Designs, textile designs falls within the definition of an industrial design and hence are protectable under the proposed law.

Protection is provided based on Article 9 of the draft Law on Industrial Designs which provides: "The protection prescribed for an industrial design under this Law shall grant its owner the right to prevent others from selling, importing or manufacturing, for commercial purposes, any product whose design has been reproduced in its entirety or as a part thereof."

Neither the current legislation, nor the draft Law on Industrial Designs provides for the right to issue a compulsory licence for industrial designs

Article 10 of the draft Law on Industrial Designs provides that the duration of protection is for 10 years from the filing date of the application for registration. Article 10 further provides that this period may be extended for a further period of five years if the owner of the design files an application for extension during the final year, in accordance with the manner determined in the regulation issued in pursuant to the Law.

The definitions are provided in Articles 1 and 2 of the draft Law on Patents and Utility Models. These two Articles are reproduced below: Article 1 An invention is patentable under this Law if it is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable, whether it is related to new industrial products - imported or locally - or new industrial processes or to a new application to known industrial processes. A patent shall be granted independently of any modification, enhancement or addition to a patent previously granted on an invention in accordance with the provisions of this Law. Article 2 a) An invention shall be deemed to be new if it is within prior art which includes all that has been disclosed to the public in Bahrain or abroad , in tangible form or orally or use or any other way sufficient to disclose the particulars of the invention prior to filing an application for the patent . For the purpose of this paragraph, disclosure to the public of the invention shall not be taken into consideration if it occurred within twelve months preceding the filing date as a result of displaying the invention in national or international exhibitions in accordance with the rules and requirements determined under a Ministerial regulation issued in pursuance to this Law. Moreover, disclosure which takes place during the same period shall not be taken into consideration if it occurred by reason of or in consequence of acts committed by the applicant or his predecessor in title or of an abuse committed by a third party with regard to the applicant or his predecessor in title. b) An invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step if, having regard to the prior art relevant to the invention, it would not have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art. c) A patent shall be considered industrially applicable if it can be applied in agriculture, fishery, handicrafts, services or any field of industry in its broadest sense.

The draft Law on Patents and Utility Models contains exceptions which do not go beyond those allowed under Article 27 of the TRIPS Agreement. The exceptions provided by virtue of Articles 1 and 3 of the draft Law are: a) Inventions, the prevention of the commercial exploitation, within the State of Bahrain, of which is necessary to protect public order or morality or to avoid serious damage to the environment. b) Plants and animals, other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes. c) Diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals, excluding products used for such methods. d) Scientific discoveries, theories and mathematical methods. Plant varieties are to be protected by a Law on the Protection of New Plant Varieties which is available in a draft form. As the draft Law has not yet been enacted, it is not possible at this stage to elaborate on how these exclusions are applied in legal or practical terms although almost all of them are self-explanatory.