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IP Law in
Israel -
Overview
Intellectual property (IP) is a key driver of the innovation-based Israeli economy. The
IP laws are a combination of such which are a product of the original Israeli legislation
and others that are amended and updated versions of British legislation during the
British mandate over of Palestine (1920-1948).
In respect of counterfeits for example, rights holders can enforce their IP right, with
the availability of expeditious judicial interim relief and the possible assistance of
governmental agencies such as the police and the customs authority.
Patents, designs and plant varieties
The Patents Law, 1967 is an original Israeli statute which incorporates such principles
as the requirement for absolute novelty and has been amended to reflect Israel’s
international obligations such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty. The Patent Law was
amended in 2011 and 2012. One of the recent substantial changes in the Patents Law
was the introduction of early publication of patent applications. A patent application
and its file wrapper will now be open for public inspection after a period of 18 months
from the filing (or priority) date. The amendment also introduced the right to collect
reasonable damages for infringements that occurred between early publication and
publication of acceptance of the patent application.
On January 2014 the Patents Law was amended again and introduced a significant
reform in the patent term extension (PTE) system.
The Law governing the protection of Industrial Designs in Israel is currently the
Patents and Designs Ordinance of 1924 which is the amended British ordinance that
supports old concepts such as local novelty; however, on July 13, 2015, a newDesigns
Bill passed its first reading in the Israeli Parliament. When finally enacted the new
Designs Law will replace the old Ordinance and will modernize the designs protection
in Israel. Some of the major provisions of the Bill are a new definition for a "product"
encompassing graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, international novelty
unregistered designs protection, grace period and provisions for Israel’s accession to
The Hague Agreement .
Rights in new plant varieties are governed by the Plant Breeders Law, 1973.
Although there are no specialized IP courts in Israel, the courts are generally
IP-friendly.