Patents in Saudi Arabia are governed by Patents, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Models Law which was issued, as per Royal Decree No. M/27 on July 17, 2004, and lastly amended on October 03, 2023.

Patent applications are applied online through the e-filing system of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), and undergo formal and substantive examinations.
Absolute universal novelty is required for patent protection. Any invention which fulfills the following requirements of patentability can be granted a patent in Saudi Arabia:
• Novelty
• Inventive Step
• Industrial Applicability

The Saudi Patent Law stipulates subject matters which are not patentable. The following cannot be protected as patents:
• Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods.
• Schemes, rules and methods of conducting commercial activities, exercising pure mental activities or playing a game.
• Plants, animals and processes – which are mostly organic – used for the production of plants or animals, except micro-organisms, non-organic and microbiology processes.
• Methods of surgical or therapeutic treatment of human or animal bodies and methods of diagnosis applied to human or animal bodies, with the exception of products used in any of these methods.

In addition, a patent will not be granted if exploitation of the patent contradicts with principles of Sharia Islamic law.

A patent shall be protected for 20 years from the date of filing the application. A patent is subject to annuity due at the beginning of each year subsequent to the year in which the application was filed and payable within a period of 3 months (January 1st to March 31st). Late payment of annuity fees is allowed within 3 months thereafter in exchange for a double fee.

The granting of a license does not prevent the patentee from utilizing the patent or from granting a license on the same patent to another person unless restricted in the original license agreement. The licensee may not assign the rights and privileges conferred on him unless his ability to do so is expressly stipulated in the license agreement.

The Patent Office may grant a compulsory license for exploiting the patent to any person upon an application filed thereof, provided that the patentee has not exploited or sufficiently exploited the invention covered by the patent within 4 years from the application filing date or 3 years from the grant date unless he justifies that with a legitimate excuse.
Saudi Arabia became a member of PCT on August 03, 2013, and entering the national phase is possible for PCT applications filed on or after August 03, 2013, designated Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Patent Office has started accepting PCT national phase applications as of February 03, 2015. The official fees of national phase applications are the same fees as regular applications.