<p><strong>Introduction</strong></p>
<p>As part of the process of  acceding to the WTO, Jordan has enacted its new Patent Law No. 71 of  2001 (the "Patent Law"), in accordance with the international standards  which Jordan has been committed to through joining the TRIPs Agreement.  This law also came to remedy the previous law (Patent Law No. 23 of  1999), which suffered ambiguity in several respects.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In general, the  rules of the new Patent Law enjoy clarity and simplicity, and are well  divided under various main subjects of the Patent Law. The main subjects  are gradually headlined in the Patent Law as follows: Registration of  the patent, Rights of the patentee, Licensing of inventions, Expiry and  nullification of patents, Industrial property registration agents,  Crimes and penalties, the Precautionary measures, and Closing rules.<br /><br /><strong>The major amendments:</strong><br /><br />In  substance, the amended Patent Law contains new established rules and  modified rules. The major amendments can be summarized as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Patent Law establishes the rule of priority claim when filing a patent application.</li>
<li>The Patent Law identifies the duration of temporary protection for  the patent applicant to be the period between the acceptance date of the  application and the granting date of the patent, giving the applicant  the right to exploit the invention and legally act against any  infringement on the invention.</li>
<li>The Patent Law grants the patentee the right to act against any  infringement on the patent and to claim compensation if the infringement  is repeated.</li>
<li>The Patent Law extends the duration for any person to oppose a  patent at the Registrar's office to three months from the date of  publication in the Official Gazette.</li>
<li>The Patent Law modifies the duration of the patent protection to be  twenty years from the date of filing the application for registration.</li>
<li>Regarding criminal protection, the Patent Law unifies the penalties  of patent crimes to imprisonment for a period not less than three months  and not more than one year and/or a fine not less than one hundred  Jordanian Dinars and not more than three thousand Jordanian Dinars.</li>
<li>The Patent Law awards the patentee the right to claim damages on all  types of crimes underlined by the Patent Law which may occur to the  patent.</li>
<li>The Patent Law grants the patentee, even prior to filing criminal  and/or civil case, the right to request the court to issue an order to  take any of the specified following precautionary measures :</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Obtain a Court order to stop the infringement by freezing products being manufactured, imported, exported or distributed.</li>
<li>Obtain an injunction against the infringing products.</li>
<li>Obtain a Court order to seize all evidence relating to the infringement.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>The procedures<br /></strong><br />Once the application is filed,  it is queued to be examined by Jordanian patent office with respect to  compliance with formalities. If accepted the applicant is notified to  settle the substantive examination fees. Upon settlement, the  application is forwarded to substantive examination. The examiner may  request amendments to the application. When the application meets all  the requirements stipulated in the Patent Law and the terms of granting  the patent, and upon settlement the publication fees, a decision of  preliminary is issued and published in the official Gazette. In absence  of any opposition within 3 months as of the publication date, the  register shall issue his decision granting the patent after the payment  of the due fees.</p>