PATENTS
Lebanon Patent Overview

Lebanon is part of the Paris Convention. As per the Paris Convention, any person who has duly filed an application for the registration of a patent, in one country of the Paris Union established by the Convention, shall enjoy for the purpose of filing in Lebanon, a right of priority during a period of 12 months. In case of claiming a priority right, late filing of the Power of Attorney and the priority document is possible within 3 months from the acceptance date

Registration Requirements

A patent application should be filed before the relevant invention has been used or published in either Lebanon or abroad. Patent applications are not subject to examination as to novelty. The specification of the patent can be filed in Arabic, French or English. One Power of Attorney, which must be filed with the application, can be used for filing several patent applications.

Time Frame

Under normal circumstances, the registration of a patent is completed within a period of 2 weeks; while the relevant patent certificate is issued within 2 weeks of the registration date.

Duration

Patents are granted for 20 years from the filing date. Patents of addition are granted for the unexpired term of the principal patent.

TRADEMARKS

Lebanon Trademark Overview

The legal basis of Lebanon trademark is the Law No. 14/87 of May 4, 1987 on Duties and Fees due for the Publication of Trademarks and Patents in the Official Gazette in Lebanon. Lebanon is a member of the Paris Convention and the Madrid Agreement.  Lebanon adopts first-to-use basis for trademark protection.

Registration Process

Once a trademark application is filed, it is examined as to whether it is contrary to the public order and morals or representing national or foreign decorations. Also, it is examined as to its registrability and existence of prior rights. If similar or identical trademark registrations exist under the same class, a Notice of Similarity has to be signed on behalf of the client as an acknowledgement of taking note of the existence of these conflicting registrations. When the trademark is accepted, the Registrar waits for the decision of the Israeli Boycott Department to check whether the applicant is on the boycott list or not. A trademark is deemed registered upon payment of the registration fees. There is no provision for oposición.

Time frame

Approximate process duration for straightforward cases: 2 months.

Duration

A trademark registration is valid for 15 years as of the registration date and renewable for indefinite similar periods. Filing a late renewal application is possible through a grace period of 3 months from the date of expiration.