A defined period for protection is prescribed only with respect to undisclosed tests or data the origination of which involves a considerable effort, and which have been submitted to the competent authorities for the purpose of obtaining approval for marketing of pharmaceutical or of agricultural chemical products which utilise new chemical entities. Article 2 of the draft Law on the Protection of Trade Secrets provides that the competent authorities which receive such tests or data shall protect them against disclosure as from the date they are received until they are no longer secret, and shall prohibit their unfair commercial use by preventing any third party not having the consent of the person who submitted them from relying on such data or tests in the marketing of similar drugs or products for 5 years following the date of marketing approval of the drugs or products in Bahrain.
