Draft Laws for all forms of intellectual property provide for criminal sanctions for infringement of IPRs. The penalty is imprisonment for a term not less than 3 months and not more than one year or a fine of not less than BD 500 and not more than BD 2000 or to both fine and imprisonment. If the offender repeats an offence, the upper limit of both the fine and imprisonment are doubled and in addition the court has the authority to order the closure of the premises, at which the offence was facilitated, for a period between 15 days to six months and to order the verdict to be published in at least one daily newspaper at the expense of the offender.
The relevant legal provisions within the draft Laws are:
a) Patents and Utility Models: Article 41
b) Geographical indications: Articles 2 and 12
c) Protection of Trade Secrets: Article 7
d) Industrial designs: Article 19
e) Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits: Article 18
f) Protection of Breeders of New Varieties of Plants: Article 25
g) Trademarks: Article 28
h) Copyright and Neighbouring Rights: Articles 49 to 52
All the above provisions also provide that the court has authority to order the seizure, forfeiture and destruction of infringing goods and any materials and implements, which have been used for the commission of the offence.
