The Office of Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Economy & Trade issued 233 patents in 2017, which constitutes a decline of 7.9% from 253 patents issued in 2016. The Patent Law, or Law No. 240 of 2000, provides patent protection for inventions, plant varieties and layout designs of integrated circuits. The law is compatible with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which is an international legal agreement between the member nations of the World Trade Organization. 

Further, there were 245 copyright registrations in 2017 compared to 270 registrations in 2016, which are protected under Law No. 75 of 1999. The law protects literary and artistic works, as well as computer software and videos, among other products. Also, a total of 110 industrial design rights were registered at the ministry’s Office of Intellectual Property in 2017, nearly unchanged from 108 industrial design rights in 2016. Industrial designs rights protect the design of a variety of products in different industries, including technical and medical instruments, watches, jewelry, other luxury items, electrical appliances and vehicles, among other designs.

In addition, the ministry registered 5,509 new trademarks in Lebanon in 2017, constituting an increase of 3.6% from 5,318 in 2016, while it renewed 1,288 trademarks last year compared to 1,311 renewals in 2016. Trademarks in Lebanon are protected by Resolution No. 2385 of 1924 that was amended by the law of December 1946 related to Commercial and Industrial Property Rights. They are also protected by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, as well as by customs regulations, the Law on Fraud Control and the Criminal Law.