Saudi Arabia

Firm overview

CWB emerged as an unrivalled super-regional firm in 2023 following the merger of leading regional IP specialists Cedar White Bradley, PETOŠEVIĆ Group and Hahn & Hahn with 29 offices, 150 practitioners, and 250 employees, CWB now services and manages the portfolios of some of the world's leading IP owners across 100+ jurisdictions in Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

Through an unrivalled footprint of offices and affiliated offices, we offer centrally managed IP solutions and dedicated client-specific, cross-jurisdiction teams. We blend the best advanced IP practices and the local know-how to deliver consistent quality service across a large geographical area, despite all the challenges posed by the countries we operate in.

CWB provides a full spectrum of IP services related to virtually all IP rights, as well as brand management and brand enforcement services. Our teams protect thousands of IP rights for market leading clients across a large section of industries. We also have a Media & Entertainment team, which provides highly specialized support to clients navigating local regulatory landscapes in fields such as film production, content streaming, crypto, advertising, data protection, social media, software licensing and music usage.

CWB is thinking beyond the technology available today to transform the IP services industry. We are implementing the most innovative technologies and leveraging automation and AI to enhance the client and employee experience and to achieve industry-leading efficiencies.

CWB Office Locations

Africa: Egypt, South Africa (Pretoria and Western Cape), Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Central Asia: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
Central & Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244), Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine
Middle East: Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Dubai)

IP Practice Specialisms

CWB provides a full spectrum of intellectual property services related to trademarks, patents, utility models, industrial designs, copyright; domain names, trade secrets and other IP rights, as well as brand management and brand enforcement services. CWB teams file, prosecute, register, and enforce thousands of IP rights for market leading and globally renowned clients across a large section of industries, including consumer electronics, automotive, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, confectionery, FMCG, property development, luxury brands, fashion and cosmetics.

Firm overview

The distinctive “one‐stop shop” character of the legal services provided by Alem & Associates' Intellectual Property practice group, the versatility, updated knowledge, expertise and understanding of the business aspects of related industries that our team offers have placed our Intellectual Property practice among the highest ranked in the region.

Our experience covers the full range of intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade‐secrets.

Our Intellectual Property practice goes beyond basic IP registration and prosecution. Our lawyers routinely structure, advise and negotiate a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property in a variety of industries, including media & entertainment, hotel and restaurants, luxury goods, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, education, technology, automotive and fashion.

Our services are focused on the following main subcategories:

• Franchising – we advise both, franchisees and franchisors on the implementation of a variety of franchising structures and transaction, including unit franchise, area development, master franchise, unit franchise, managed franchise and joint ventures franchise. The Firm has advised franchisees and franchisors in connection with the most prestigious international and regional brands franchised in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabic.
• Hotels and Leisure - we advise on a wide range of legal matters in the hotel and leisure sector. Our experience includes advising clients on transactions involving hotels and resorts, casinos, food and beverage outlets and travel services companies. We act for international and regional brand owners, hotel & resort operators, financiers, investors, and developers.
• Agency, Distribution, and Licensing – we advise businesses in the legal structuring and implementation for network expansion for their products and services, including through licensing, agency and distribution arrangements.
• Media & Entertainment – our media and entertainment practice has emerged from our focus in this continuous evolving industry and our understanding of the market need for legal professionals that are able to understand and adapt related legal environment at the same fast pace of media convergence. We have the foresight, knowledge, and in-depth understanding of the specifics of the media and entertainment industries, the dynamics of the market and our client’s need for fast, comprehensive and innovative legal support and advice that protects the interest of their business. Our skills are put to good use in the media and entertainment industries where we work with clients involved in the creative, production, broadcasting, licensing, publishing, advertising and performing activities across all media platforms such as television, streaming services, social media, theater, radio, magazines, newspapers and digital media, providing legal and regulatory advice in connection with a wide range of media and entertainment related transactions. We have advised a multitude of regional and international key players in the Media & Entertainment industry.
• Intellectual Property Development, Registration, Management, Protection and – we advise clients on issues relating to development, registration and protection of intellectual property assets.

Firm overview

JAH Intellectual Property is one of the most prominent and internationally recognized regional firms for full-spectrum IP services, portfolio management and enforcement; legal representation against infringement combines flexibility and adaptability to deliver solutions and services tailored to the clients’ needs. With branch offices in the Arab Region and additional capacity in mainland Africa through associate firms, we have the geographical reach to assist a wide array of clients. Decades of experience in handling both contentious and non-contentious IP matters in various jurisdictions in our region ensure that the firm can give high-quality, verified, practical advice on IP protection and enforcement strategy; this experience also means that the firm can undertake any action sought by clients most effectively and at remarkably competitive costs, based on commercial awareness. Thanks to our network of local offices, we are well positioned to execute broad filing and registration projects along with executing cross-jurisdictional strategies envisaged by clients.

Our head office in Doha, Qatar, handles with precision and efficiency the responses to all correspondence and reporting, as well as coordination with our various offices in accordance with clients/associates’ instructions, meeting high standards in compliance with the rules and practices in the countries of our operations. This is to ensure prompt, precise, innovative, transparent, high value-added services, keeping track of the documents and maintaining the consistency in our correspondence. Unlike other prominent firms in our jurisdictions, we are a genuine one-window facility for our associates and clients. Similarly to our streamlined professional services, all accounting matters are being dealt through our centralized system, which eases the burden of administrative work and ensures quality.

As mentioned above, the firm maintains its own operational offices in most Arab-speaking countries, as well as most African countries through local African IP affiliated firms functioning for JAH under our professional standards, quality control and full supervision. All our offices provide the entire IP spectrum services of trademark, patent, design and copyright prosecution and litigation. We take pride in our sophisticated office infrastructure, actively deploying technology for increasing efficiency and to meet client expectations. Our files are securely maintained in a fully digitized format, assisting in generating reports and also providing ready access for client review. We have developed our own platform for docketing, work allocation, tracking and communication, which enables flexibility, efficiency and client satisfaction. Delivering value to clients with accuracy, consistency, speed and reliability is of primary importance to our communication approach.

We support a wide range of IP owners, managers and creators whose IP assets we have helped protect and monetize. The JAH professionals have vast experience in IP law, combining IP litigation and prosecution services under one umbrella, making us a one-stop solution provider for most client needs. We at JAH understand the importance of intellectual property within an organization’s corporate strategy and provide comprehensive services with this holistic view; we also offer customized services to meet the same. This approach, combined with a policy of flat, transparent charging with value-added services such as complementary legal opinions and translations, means that we enjoy strong client retention and loyalty. These axioms and work ethics have enabled us to deliver practical and effective solutions to further clients’ business objectives and also enjoy a high level of client satisfaction.

Our colleagues are fully authorized to represent clients before judicial authorities, IP offices, customs offices and the different administrative authorities of the countries where we are located. Our staff are active members of both local and international legal associations such as the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys, INTA, ECTA and MARQUES.

Firm overview

We didn’t start under the name “Baianat”… But the first beginning of our success journey was back in 1964.

Dr Saud Mohammed Ali Al-Shawaf Office

In 1964, Dr Saud Mohammed Ali Al-Shawaf established his legal office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to provide all commercial legal services, and thanks to hard work and insistence on success and excellence, and providing the best level of service and consultation in the Kingdom, the office won wide fame and good reputation in the field of commercial legal advice.

Within a few years, the services provided by the office on commercial issues diversified, to include intellectual property rights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and various commercial issues, and In return for these service expansions and the continuous flow of customers because of the good professional reputation, it was necessary to polarize more experts to maintain our professional progress.

SMAS Intellectual Property

We relied on the most skilled lawyers and legal consultants to refine our professional experience, and the office turned into a legal group under the name of SMAS Intellectual Property Company, and the group was able to follow the growth that we started in the sixties, and our network continued to grow until SMAS became one of the most important legal agencies referred to in the Kingdom and the Middle East as well.

Because we decided in our journey that success and excellence become our allies, Dr Saud Al-Shawaf and the master Mr Nawaf Al-Mutairi (the current manager of the company) decided to expand by establishing several branches of the company in neighbouring countries, in the Middle East and North Africa, to meet the requirements of our customers, and the proliferation phase that the two commanders intended has already begun, and we were able to employ the most skilled lawyers and consultants in our new branches and develop their knowledge before starting work.

Finally. Baianat Intellectual Property

Baianat is an extension of SMAS Company, as it included all the founding expertise of SMAS to be a clear development of the company under the leadership of Prof. Dr Saud Al-Shawaf, Mr Nawaf Al-Mutairi and Sheikh Ayyad Al-Otaibi.

When the moment came to start, Baianat Intellectual Property Company was established, a sister company to SMAS Company to work on a local and international basis in a specialized manner, so we adopted the name “Baianat Intellectual Property” and several branches of our parent company were registered in the Kingdom, and soon it was welcomed by all customers, thanks to our practical and scientific experience that we have dedicated to serving you and sharing your success.

Now our customers exceed 7000 distinguished customers from individuals, companies and commercial institutions with various activities, and our experience extended to various activities, and we are taking the early stages with them of their projects, sketching out their ideas, and building their ambitions on the ground, and guarantee all their commercial and legal rights related to intellectual property in all its forms.
We still continue to support our clients with everything they are looking for in the field of intellectual property services.