Plants and animals with the exception of micro-organisms shall not be regarded as inventions according to Article 45 of the Law of Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs (hereafter "The Law"). Therefore, even though plants and animals meet the conditions for patentability stipulated in Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, they are not patentable because they are not regarded as inventions.

Article 45 (a, c & d) of the Law has stated the excluded subject matters, which related to plants and animals per se or methods that are mostly biological of the production of plants or animals. In addition, the methods of treating the human or animal's body, surgically or therapeutically, and methods of diagnosing the disease applied to the human or animal's body. 

Article 4.a & b of the Law has stated the following:

a-    "The protection document shall not be granted if its commercial exploitation violates the Shari'ah.

b-    The protection document shall not be granted if its commercial exploitation is harmful to life or health of humans, animals or plants, or is substantially harmful to the environment."

Article 2 of the Law has defined the nature of invention. Articles 43 and 44 of the Law clearly point out that a patent may be issued on an invention if it is new, involves an inventive step, and capable of industrial application, which are equal to the conditions for patentability stipulated in Article 27.1 of TRIPs.

Provisions governing the protection of new plant varieties are stipulated in Articles 54 to 58 of the Law of Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs (The Law).

Article 54 of the Law stated that "A plant variety shall be patentable if it is new, distinct, uniform and stable, and procedures have been taken to designate a denomination for it."

Besides the protection of plant varieties by the Law, micro-organisms, non-biological and micro-biological processes are within the scope of patent protection according to Article 45 (c) of the Law.

Article 2  of the Law defines plant variety as "A plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank which, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant of a breeders right are fully met, can be defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from a given genotype or a combination of genotypes distinguished from any other plant grouping, by the expression of at least one of the said characteristics, and considered as units with regard to its suitability for being propagated without change."

Article 53 of the Law describes that plant variety can be patentable as plant patent : "The plant variety shall be patentable if it is new, distinct, uniform and stable, and proceedings have been taken to designate a denomination for it." 

Any substance existing in nature without any modification is mere discovery and therefore it is unpatentable according to Article 45 (a) of the Law.

An applicant is required to provide sufficient disclosure of his invention and to satisfy that requirements, he may need to provide some data, such as experimental data, to determine technical impact or unexpected benefits. This support is preferably in the application itself.

With regard to inventions, Article 47 of the Law states that " the owner of the protection document may initiate an action before the Committee against any person who infringes his invention by exploiting it in the Kingdom without his consent. The following shall be deemed as exploitation of the invention:

(a)   If it is a product: Its manufacture, sale, offering for sale, use, storage or its importation for any of these purposes.

(b)   If it is a process: The use of the process, or performing any of the acts referred to in the previous paragraph, in relation to the product which is directly obtained by the use of this process.

The owner of the protection document's right shall not preclude others from exploiting his invention in non-commercial activities relating to scientific research."

With regard to plant varieties, Article 56 of the Law states that " (a)   The owner of the plant variety protection document may initiate an action before the Committee against any person who infringes the patented variety by exploiting the propagating material of the patented variety without his consent inside the Kingdom. The following shall be deemed to be exploitation of the propagating material of the patented variety:

(1)   Producing or propagating it.

(2)   Conditioning it for purposes of propagation.

(3)   Exporting it.

(4)   Importing it.

(5)   Offering it for sale, selling it or any other sort of marketing.

(6)   Stocking it for any of the above purposes.

(b)   Rights stipulated in paragraph (a) of this Article include harvested material of the variety, including the whole plant or part thereof obtained by unlawful use of the propagating material of the variety. This applies where the owner of the protection document of the plant patent was not given a reasonable chance to exercise his rights in relation to the propagating material of the said variety.

(c)    Rights stipulated in paragraphs (a) and (b) extend to the varieties derived essentially from the protected variety if it is not possible to distinguish such varieties clearly, in accordance with Article 55(b) of this Law, from the said protected variety, or that the production of these varieties requires the repeated use of the said protected variety.

(d)   Rights stipulated in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this Article shall not extend to acts performed for non-commercial personal purposes or for experimental purposes or for purposes of breeding new varieties.

Yes, the owner of the patent shall not preclude others from exploiting his protected subject matter in non-commercial activities related to scientific research according to Articles 47 and 56 (d) of the Law.

Yes, the Law includes Article 24 containing provisions related to compulsory licencing of patent for invention and Article 25 containing provisions related to compulsory licencing of plant variety.

Saudi Arabia protects plant varieties by special provisions on protection of plant variety contained in the Law. Specifically, Article 53 stipulates their protection: "The plant variety shall be patentable if it is new, distinct, uniform and stable, and proceedings have been taken to designate a denomination for it."

Saudi Arabia is not a party to the UPOV Convention.

The provisions regarding protection of new varieties of plants are drafted in reference to "The Model Law on The Protection of New Varieties of Plants", 1996 issued by UPOV which was based on the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.

The protection of plant variety is provided solely by specific provisions on protection of plant varieties included in "The Law of Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties and Industrial Designs".

The Law of Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs & its Regulations.

The plant variety is defined according to Article 2 of the Law as "A plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank which, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant are fully met, can be defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from a certain genotype or a combination of genotypes distinguished from any other plant grouping, by the expression of at least one of the said characteristics, and considered a unit with regard to its suitability for being propagated without change."

Article 54 of the Law states that "the plant variety shall be patentable if it is new, distinct, uniform and stable, and procedures have been taken to designate a denomination for it".

Any subject –matter that is identical to what occurs in nature or is already known to the public is not patentable according to Articles 54 and 55 of the Law.

Germplasm characteristics are not taken into account in the evaluation of patentability of plant varieties.

The plant breeder is entitled to the rights according to Articles 2 and 5(e) of the Law.   

Article 2 of the Law defines the plant breeder as "Plant breeder: The person who breeds, discovers or develops a new plant variety".

Article 5(e) of the Law states that "The person who develops the subject matter of protection shall have the right to state his name in that capacity in the protection document".

Procedures for the acquisition of rights are stipulated in the Law and its Implementing Regulations. Article 8 of the Law states that "The application for granting a protection document shall be submitted to SAIP in the prescribed form. The Regulations shall specify the information and documents required to be enclosed with the application." Section Three of the Implementing Regulations (Articles 20 to 26) specify the "terms and Conditions for Filing an Application for a Plant Patent.

Article 10 provides rights of priority. Article 11 is about the publication of the application. Article 12 covers the formal examination. Article 13 of the Law and Articles 39 to 44 of the Implementing Regulations provide provisions on substantive examination. Article 14 provides provisions on grant. Article 19(C) provides the term of protection 

The authority in charge of administering the rights is the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), Article 3 of the Law states that "SAIP shall have the authority to apply the provisions of this Law and its Implementing Regulations.

Article 56 of the Law states that

"(a)  The owner of the plant protection document may initiate an action before the Committee against any person who infringes upon the patented variety by exploiting the propagating material of the patented variety without his consent inside the Kingdom. The following shall be deemed exploitation of the propagating material of the patented variety:

(1)   Producing or propagating it.

(2)   Conditioning it for purposes of propagation.

(3)   Exporting it.

(4)   Importing it.

(5)   Offering it for sale, selling it or any other sort of marketing.

(6)   Storing it for any of the above purposes.

(b)   The Rights stipulated in paragraph (a) of this Article include harvested material of the variety, including the whole plant or part thereof obtained by unlawful use of the propagating material of the variety. This applies where the owner of the protection document of the plant patent was not given a reasonable chance to exercise his rights in relation to the propagating material of the said variety.

(c)    The Rights stipulated in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Article extend to the varieties derived essentially from the protected variety if it is not possible to distinguish such varieties clearly, in accordance with Article 55(b) of this Law, from the protected variety, or that the production of these varieties requires the repeated use of the said protected variety.

(d)   The Rights stipulated in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this Article shall not extend to acts performed for non-commercial personal purposes or for experimental purposes or for purposes of breeding new varieties".

Exceptions to the rights are stated in Article 56 (d) as "rights stipulated in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this Article shall not extend to acts performed for non-commercial personal purposes or for experimental purposes or for purposes of breeding new varieties"

According to Article 19(C) of the Law, "The plant patent protection period shall be twenty years from the date of filing the application. However, the protection period for trees shall be twenty-five years".

The rights can be transferred to others by inheritance according to Article 5 (a) or by assignment according to Article 16 of the Law.  

Article 56 (a)  of the Law states that " (a)  The owner of the plant protection document may initiate an action before the Committee against any person who infringes upon the patented variety by exploiting the propagating material of the patented variety without his consent inside the Kingdom ……"

An invention consisting of an entire plant or animal as such that is novel and involves an inventive step can be denied according to Article (4), and Article 45 (a, c) of the Law. 

Yes, Article 45 (c) of the Law states that:

"In the application of the provisions of this Law, the following shall not be regarded inventions:

(c) Plants, animals, and processes-which are mostly biological- used for the production of plants and animals.

Plants and animals are excluded from being patentable according to Article 45 (c).

     No, Article 45 (c) is the only provision.

No

No

No

Yes, it is possible to obtain a patent on a microorganism that is novel, involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application.

No, it is not possible to obtain a patent on an essentially biological process for the production of a plant or animal. Article (45) of the Law stated "In the application of the provisions of this Law, the following shall not be regarded inventions:

(c) Plants, animals, and processes-which are mostly biological- used for the production of plants and animals with the exception of microorganisms and non-biological and microbiological processes.

No, they are not patentable because they are considered as discoveries. Article 45 of the Law states that: "In the application of the provisions of this Law, the following shall not be regarded inventions:

(a) Discoveries, ….."

Yes, it is protectable as plant variety under the Law of Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties and Industrial Designs.

Saudi Arabia is not a party to the UPOV Convention. However, the provisions regarding protection of new varieties of plant are drafted in reference to "The Model Law on The Protection of New Varieties of Plants", 1996 issued by UPOV which was based on the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.

It was based on "The Model Law on The Protection of New Varieties of Plants" issued by UPOV which was based on the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.

No, such acts would not require prior authorization of the right holder. Article 56 (d) states that "The rights stipulated in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this Article shall not extend to acts performed for non-commercial personal purposes, for experimental purposes, or for the purpose of breeding new varieties".

No, according to Article 56 (b, c).

Yes. According to Article 56 (A)(1, 2, 6) of the Law, these acts require prior authorization of the right holder. Article 56(A) states that: "The owner of the plant protection document may initiate an action before the Committee against any person who infringes upon the patented variety by exploiting the propagating material of the patented variety without his consent inside the Kingdom. The following shall be deemed exploitation of the propagating material of the patented variety:

1- Producing or propagating it.

2- Conditioning it for purposes of propagation.

6- Storing it for any of the above purposes."

No, there is not any additional requirement

According to Article 55 (a) of the Law, "A plant variety shall be deemed new if, at the date of filing the application or the date of the claimed priority, propagating or harvested materials of the variety have not been sold or otherwise made available to others by the breeder or with his consent, for the purposes of exploiting the variety in accordance with the following:

(1) In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for more than one year.

(2) In other countries for more than four years or, in case of trees or vines, for more than six years."

Germplasm characteristics is not taken into account in the evaluation of patentability of plant varieties.