Parliament to review Bahrain’s entry into design pact

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

The government has referred to Parliament a draft law that would approve Bahrain’s accession to the Locarno Agreement, the treaty that sets a shared classification system for industrial design filings.

The bill has been sent to the Council of Representatives for committee review, with the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee named as the main committee and the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee asked to give comments, under Decree No. 77 of 2025.

The Locarno Agreement, overseen by the World Intellectual Property Organization, is meant to make design registration easier to sort and search by using the same class and subclass numbers across member states.

In its memorandum, the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission said the aim is to adopt the Locarno Classification so Bahrain’s approach to design classification matches the system used abroad for filing and protection.

The treaty explains how the classification is maintained, including a committee of experts that can amend the list of classes and subclasses and circulate changes through WIPO channels, as well as rules on when updates take effect after notification.

The commission said the agreement does not conflict with the Constitution, but needs a law to take effect in Bahrain under the rules governing international agreements.

The proposed draft law is framed in two articles with one approving accession to the agreement, and the other requiring the Prime Minister and ministers, each within their remit, to carry it out.