Trademarks & Patents in Qatar: Protect Your Business IP

If you run a business in Qatar, your brand name, logo and inventions can be valuable assets — and two of the main ways to protect them are through trademark and patent registration with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI).

A registered trademark can give you exclusive rights to use your mark and prevent unauthorised identical or confusingly similar use within the scope protected by the registration. A patent gives its owner exclusive rights to exploit a qualifying invention and generally prevent others from manufacturing, using, selling, offering for sale or otherwise exploiting it without permission.

This guide to Trademarks & Patents in Qatar: Protecting Your Business IP walks you through how the system works in 2026 — what it costs in QAR, how long protection lasts and what you can do if someone infringes your rights.

Why IP protection matters for your Qatar business

Building recognition around a business name, product or invention takes time and money. Registering the appropriate intellectual-property rights can make it considerably easier to establish ownership, challenge infringing use and turn IP into an asset that can be licensed, transferred or used in commercial arrangements. Qatar's current trademark framework, for example, expressly recognises transfers, licences and other dealings involving registered marks.

Two common protection tools are trademarks, which protect distinctive signs used to identify goods or services, and patents, which protect qualifying inventions.

They are not the only forms of IP protection available. Depending on your business, copyright, industrial designs, trade secrets and other rights may also matter. MOCI's Intellectual Property Rights Protection Department deals with trademarks, patents, copyright, industrial designs and related IP matters.

Trademarks in Qatar: what they cover

A trademark protects distinctive signs that identify the commercial source of goods or services. Depending on the mark and whether it satisfies the legal requirements, that can include names, words, logos, letters, numbers, images, symbols, colours and other distinctive signs.

Trademarks are registered in relation to particular goods and services and classified by category. Qatar's GCC Trademark Law allows registration in one or more classes, while the similarity of goods and services is not determined purely by whether they fall within the same classification.

That distinction matters: owning a registration does not automatically give you an unlimited monopoly over a word or logo in every commercial context. The scope of protection depends on the mark, the registered goods and services, likelihood of confusion and other circumstances, with special protection available for qualifying famous marks.

Trademark registration fees in Qatar (2026)

MOCI's current trademark fee schedule charges the main registration services per trademark, per class.

For one standard trademark in one class, the main fees are:

• Filing fee — QAR 1,000 per mark, per class.
• Publication fee — QAR 500 per mark, per class.
• Registration / certificate fee — QAR 3,000 per mark, per class.

That means a standard application covering one class that proceeds successfully through publication and final registration normally involves QAR 4,500 in these principal MOCI fees.

Additional classes should not be described as costing only an extra QAR 1,000. MOCI's fee table is structured on a one mark, one class basis for filing, publication and final registration, so additional classes can attract charges at each relevant stage.

For renewal:

• Renewal during the final year of protection — QAR 3,000.
• Renewal during the six months after expiry — QAR 4,000.
• Publication of the renewal — QAR 500 where applicable.

These figures are likewise stated on a one-mark, one-class basis.

How to register a trademark step by step

1. Search first — check for existing marks that may conflict with yours. MOCI currently provides a free self-search route using the Global Brand Database with Qatar selected as the IP office. MOCI also lists a separate formal trademark-inquiry service carrying a QAR 1,000 fee.
2. File the application — submit your trademark, owner information, relevant goods or services and class details electronically through MOCI and pay the application fee.
3. Examination — MOCI examines the application and may accept it, accept it subject to conditions or amendments, or reject it. Current MOCI guidance states that the application is reviewed within 90 days where the requirements are met.
4. Publication — if accepted, pay the QAR 500 publication fee. MOCI currently states that the mark is published in the Industrial Property Gazette for 60 days, during which interested parties can oppose the registration. The GCC Trademark Law likewise provides a 60-day opposition period from publication.
5. Registration — if no successful opposition prevents registration, pay the QAR 3,000 registration/certificate fee for the relevant class and receive the registration certificate.

Trademark validity and renewal

A registered trademark in Qatar receives 10 years of protection and can be renewed for further 10-year periods. The current GCC Trademark Law requires renewal during the final year and gives the owner an additional six months after expiry to renew.

For fee planning, MOCI currently charges QAR 3,000 for renewal during the final year or QAR 4,000 if renewed during the six-month grace period, plus a QAR 500 publication fee where applicable.

Keep the renewal date recorded carefully. Qatar's current trademark legislation also allows a registered mark to be challenged for non-use where it has not been genuinely used for five consecutive years without adequate justification.

The Madrid route for international brands

Qatar participates in the Madrid System, allowing qualifying trademark owners to use the international registration system to seek protection in multiple Madrid-member jurisdictions.

It is important to understand that Madrid is a centralised filing and management system — it does not create one automatically enforceable “worldwide trademark”. Each designated jurisdiction applies its own substantive trademark rules when determining whether protection will be granted.

For Qatar, WIPO reduced the applicable individual fees from 9 November 2025. The current Qatar individual fee is:

• CHF 984 per class for an international application or subsequent designation of Qatar.
• CHF 765 per class for renewal.

The new amounts apply to the categories of applications, subsequent designations and renewals specified by WIPO on or after 9 November 2025.

Patents in Qatar: protecting your inventions

A patent can protect an invention that satisfies Qatar's patentability requirements. Under Qatar's Patent Law, an invention must be new, involve an inventive idea and be capable of industrial application. The invention may concern a new industrial product, process or method, or a new application of known industrial methods.

Not every business idea or piece of technology is patentable. Qatar's Patent Law excludes certain subject matter, including scientific theories, mathematical methods, computer programs as such, certain plant and animal subject matter, and diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for humans or animals.

Once granted, the patent gives its owner the exclusive right to exploit the invention. Qatar's Patent Law identifies exploitation as including manufacturing, using, selling, offering for sale and importing the invention for lawful exploitation, subject to the law's limitations and exceptions.

Patent fees in Qatar (2026)

The current patent fees were introduced under Ministerial Decision No. 60 of 2024. Although the decision itself is dated 10 June 2024, MOCI announced that the reduced service fees would begin being applied from 11 July 2024.

The main patent fees are:

• Patent registration application and technical examination — individual: QAR 2,500.
• Patent registration application and technical examination — company, institution or research entity: QAR 5,000.
• Grant and publication — individual: QAR 800.
• Grant and publication — company, institution or research entity: QAR 1,600.

MOCI also offers an optional technical search before filing at QAR 200 for individuals or QAR 400 for companies, institutions and research bodies.

This means the QAR 2,500/QAR 5,000 figure should not be presented as the entire government cost through grant.

If an application proceeds successfully to grant, the main application/examination and grant/publication fees together are:

• Individual: QAR 3,300.
• Company, institution or research entity: QAR 6,600.

Annual fees, professional fees, translations and other services are separate.

MOCI currently gives an indicative patent-registration processing period of 60 to 72 months, so patent applicants should be prepared for a substantially longer process than trademark registration.

Patent renewal (annuity) schedule

MOCI requires annual patent fees from the second year through the twentieth year, with the amount increasing as protection progresses.

The current schedule is:

• Year 2 — QAR 200 individual / QAR 400 company.
• Year 3 — QAR 250 / QAR 500.
• Year 4 — QAR 300 / QAR 600.
• Year 5 — QAR 350 / QAR 700.
• Year 6 — QAR 400 / QAR 800.
• Year 7 — QAR 450 / QAR 900.
• Year 8 — QAR 500 / QAR 1,000.
• Year 9 — QAR 550 / QAR 1,100.
• Year 10 — QAR 600 / QAR 1,200.
• Year 11 — QAR 650 / QAR 1,300.
• Year 12 — QAR 700 / QAR 1,400.
• Year 13 — QAR 750 / QAR 1,500.
• Year 14 — QAR 800 / QAR 1,600.
• Year 15 — QAR 850 / QAR 1,700.
• Year 16 — QAR 900 / QAR 1,800.
• Year 17 — QAR 950 / QAR 1,900.
• Year 18 — QAR 1,000 / QAR 2,000.
• Year 19 — QAR 1,000 / QAR 2,000.
• Year 20 — QAR 1,000 / QAR 2,000.

Be careful with the exact due-date calculation. MOCI describes its annuity service as applying from the second year through year 20, while WIPO's current Qatar guide specifically states that for PCT national-phase applications, annual fees are payable for the second and each subsequent year following the international filing date.

For that reason, don't assume that every Qatar patent follows an identical “one year after local filing” calendar. Confirm the annuity dates attached to your specific application route.

Patent term and how to keep it alive

A Qatar patent should not simply be described as lasting “20 years from the filing date” in every case.

Qatar's Patent Law, Decree-Law No. 30 of 2006, states that the duration of patent protection is 20 years from the date of obtaining the patent. The same article says that the invention enjoys the same statutory protection during the period from filing the patent application until the patent is obtained.

The implementing regulations contain additional rules for applications claiming Paris Convention priority and applications entering Qatar through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). For example, the regulations link protection for PCT national-phase applications to the international filing date.

MOCI separately requires the annual fees shown above to maintain the patent record through the applicable protection years. Because direct Qatar filings and international filings can involve different date calculations, treat the dates issued for your individual application as the operating calendar rather than relying on a generic 20-years-from-filing rule.

Where and how to file

Trademark and patent applications are handled by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Intellectual Property Rights Protection Department. MOCI's current headquarters is in Lusail City, Qatar.

Current MOCI guidance allows trademark applications to be submitted electronically through the ministry's electronic services. Patent applications are likewise submitted electronically through MOCI, although some later patent procedures and documents may still involve interaction with the ministry.

Hukoomi has an informational page for trademark registration, but that page dates from 2021 and describes the service as offline. For a 2026 guide, it is more accurate to direct applicants to MOCI's current IP and electronic-services channels rather than present Hukoomi as the primary filing platform.

If you're setting up from scratch, it helps to get the company itself sorted first — see our guide on how to register a company in Qatar.

Trademark and particularly patent applications can involve classification decisions, priority claims, translations, technical descriptions, claims and responses to objections. Businesses therefore often use an appropriately qualified IP professional where the application is commercially important or technically complex.

Enforcing your IP rights in Qatar

Registration is only part of IP protection. Once you hold enforceable rights, Qatar provides several mechanisms that can be used against infringement.

Practical options can include:

• Cease-and-desist correspondence — a lawyer's or rights holder's demand asking the alleged infringer to stop the disputed activity. This is a practical pre-litigation tool rather than a special statutory registration procedure.
• Precautionary and court measures — Qatar's trademark legislation allows rights holders to seek measures relating to infringing goods and ultimately to pursue court remedies to prevent infringement and claim compensation.
• Civil proceedings — depending on the right and circumstances, court proceedings can be used to seek orders stopping infringement and to pursue compensation. Qatar's patent legislation also provides court mechanisms and penalties for intentional infringement.
• Customs measures — Qatar has specific border-measures legislation for intellectual-property rights. A rights holder can request suspension of customs clearance for imported goods believed to infringe protected IP, subject to the evidence and procedures required by the law.
• Criminal enforcement in qualifying cases — Qatar's trademark and patent legislation also provides criminal penalties for certain deliberate counterfeiting or infringement offences.

Keep your certificates, application records, licence agreements, correspondence and evidence of actual use organised. Evidence of use is particularly relevant for trademarks because Qatar's current trademark regime permits cancellation actions against marks that have not been seriously used for five consecutive years without adequate justification.

Practical tips before you file

• Search before you spend — use MOCI's free self-search option to identify obvious conflicts before committing to filing and branding costs. A professional clearance search can be worthwhile for a commercially important brand.
• Register in the right classes — make sure the goods and services listed genuinely match how you use or plan to use the brand. Remember that MOCI's principal trademark fees are charged per mark, per class.
• File early, but don't call the system absolutely first-to-file — registering in good faith establishes ownership under the GCC Trademark Law, but a person claiming earlier use may in some circumstances seek cancellation within five years of registration.
• Keep renewals diarised — monitor trademark renewal periods and patent annual-fee deadlines carefully.
• Budget for the full term — patent costs do not stop with the QAR 2,500/QAR 5,000 application and examination fee. Grant/publication and annual fees also apply.
• Don't publicly disclose an invention too early — patentability depends on novelty, so get advice on filing strategy before publishing, demonstrating or commercially disclosing an invention where patent protection is important.

FAQs

How much does it cost to register a trademark in Qatar?

For one standard trademark in one class, MOCI currently charges:

• QAR 1,000 to file the application.
• QAR 500 for publication.
• QAR 3,000 for final registration and the certificate.

That comes to QAR 4,500 in the principal government fees per class if the application proceeds successfully through all three stages.

Additional classes should not be described as costing only another QAR 1,000. MOCI's current fee schedule applies its main trademark charges on a per-mark, per-class basis.

How long does a trademark last in Qatar?

Trademark protection runs for 10 years and can be renewed repeatedly for further 10-year periods. The owner can renew during the final year or use a six-month grace period after expiry.

MOCI currently charges QAR 3,000 for renewal during the final year or QAR 4,000 during the six-month grace period, plus QAR 500 for renewal publication where applicable.

How much is a patent in Qatar?

The current MOCI application and technical-examination fee is:

• QAR 2,500 for an individual.
• QAR 5,000 for a company, institution or research entity.

If the application is accepted, there is also a separate grant and publication fee of QAR 800 for an individual or QAR 1,600 for a company, institution or research entity.

That means the main MOCI fees through grant are QAR 3,300 for an individual or QAR 6,600 for an organisation, before annual fees and any professional, translation or other costs.

Annual fees then apply from year two according to the official schedule.

How long does patent protection last in Qatar?

Don't use a blanket “20 years from filing” rule.

Qatar's Patent Law states that a patent is protected for 20 years from the date of obtaining the patent, while the invention receives the same statutory protection during the period from filing until grant.

International applications can involve additional rules. For example, Qatar's patent implementing regulations and WIPO's PCT guidance link important protection and annual-fee dates for PCT cases to the international filing date.

Where do I register IP in Qatar?

Through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Intellectual Property Rights Protection Department.

MOCI's headquarters is in Lusail City, Qatar, and current trademark and patent services include electronic application processes through the ministry's systems.

Can I protect my brand internationally from Qatar?

Yes. Qatar participates in the Madrid System, which lets eligible applicants use a central international procedure to seek trademark protection in selected Madrid-member jurisdictions.

Qatar's Madrid individual fees were reduced from 9 November 2025 to CHF 984 per class for an application or subsequent designation and CHF 765 per class for renewal, subject to WIPO's applicable filing and renewal rules.

Remember that a Madrid registration is not a single automatically enforceable global trademark: protection in each designated country remains subject to that jurisdiction's trademark law.

Ready to protect your business? Browse business services and legal support on Qatar Living, or head to MOCI's IP services portal to start your filing today.

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