Introduction and Context

The year 2015 represents something of a milestone in the area of international intellectual property protection, in that it constitutes the 20th anniversary of the creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the introduction of the WTO's Agreement on Traderelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement), as the new global minimum standards benchmark for intellectual property protection.

This chapter examines the status over those last 20 years of WTO and TRIPs Agreement existence of the national legislative regimes for the protection of intellectual property rights in the six states of the Arabian Peninsula that constitute ‘The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf ‘, otherwise known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), that are also members of the WTO, namely, the Kingdom of Bahrain, State of Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, State of Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Four of the above States, being signatories to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as the predecessor to the WTO, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE became foundation members of the WTO. As foundation members, these States were not required to submit themselves and their intellectual property regimes to the close scrutiny of the other WTO members. Since they did not qualify as WTO foundation members, Oman (2000) and Saudi Arabia (2005) were required to face such scrutiny and to bring their legislative regimes into compliance with the TRIPs Agreement and all other WTO Agreements.

The chapter also examines the performance of the GCC member States in protecting intellectual property rights in the context of the TRIPs Agreement, the international conventions for the protection of intellectual property rights upon which the Agreement draws and builds, and regional and bilateral trade agreements which herald a movement away from the earlier reliance upon the TRIPs Agreement of 20 years ago.

The chapter thus sets the historical background and legal and political context for the following chapters in this volume on intellectual property issues in the GCC members States.

The intellectual property laws of the GCC member States reflect a common heritage. They contain many similarities with each other, indicating an ongoing process of mutual collaboration and borrowings. They have also drawn much from countries in the region which progressed through an earlier modernization/ westernization process, notably Egypt, and other Arab states through their influence in regional groups such as the League of Arab States, and the GCC itself.