<p>On 3rd May 2011, Qatar deposited its instrument of accession to the Patent  Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and on 3rd August 2011, will become bound by the PCT.  Consequently, Qatar came to be the 143rd PCT Contracting State.<br /><br />Along  with Qatar, there are now eleven Arab member states in the PCT. Along with  Qatar, these are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Sudan, Syria,  Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.<br /><br />Qatar issued its first patent law  in 2006 by Decree Law No. 30 for 2006. The Ministry of Economy and Commerce is  entitled to enforce this law, however this law has not yet come into force and  there are no implementing regulations and no active patent office.<br /><br />The  Qatari patent law grants patents a term of protection for 20 years as from the  grant date in Qatar, which looks a long term compared to the other PCT  contracting states. The same law provides protection for all sorts of  technologies, except the following:<br /><br />-&nbsp;Scientific theories, mathematical  methods, computer programs, perform metal activities and games.<br /><br />-&nbsp;Plant  varieties, animal species, or biological methods of producing plants or animals.  Exceptions shall be allowed for the microbiological methods and their  products.<br /><br />-&nbsp;Diagnostic methods, treatments, and surgical operations  needed for humans and animals.<br />&nbsp; <br />The patent law grants owners of  infringed patents civil and criminal remedies in addition to provisional  measures. The penalty for any person who may infringe a patented invention can  be imprisonment up to two years and/ or a fine of up to 10,000 Qatari Riyal. The  court may also order the confiscation of items &lsquo;attached&rsquo; at the time the action  was initiated or subsequently confiscated. The court may also order that the  evidence of the illegal act, as well as the equipment and tools used in the  infringement, be destroyed.<br /><br />Despite the fact that there is no active  patent office in Qatar, both nationals and residents in Qatar have the advantage  to file international patent applications under the PCT as from 3 August 2011,  by submitting their applications to any PCT Receiving Office (such as the  International Bureau in Switzerland).<br /><br />Clients who wish to obtain patent  protection in Qatar may rely on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) patent  office, as the protection of GCC patents is extended to all member states of the  GCC, namely, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab  Emirates.</p>