Patent Developments Around the World

Author: Sudhir Kumar

On May 3, 2011 Qatar became the 143rd Contracting State of PCT, however the Provisions of PCT shall be brought into force on August 3, 2011 within 3 months of contracting. Qatar is also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaá¹­ar, is an Arab emirate, in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf.

A strait of the Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island state of Bahrain. Formerly a British protectorate noted mainly for pearling, it became independent in 1971, and has become one of the region's wealthiest states due to its enormous oil and natural gas revenues. Qatar has the world's largest per capita production and proven reserves of both oil and natural gas. In 2010, Qatar had the world's highest GDP per capita, while the economy grew by 19.40%, the fastest in the world. The main drivers for this rapid growth are attributed to ongoing increases in production and exports of liquefied natural gas, oil, petrochemicals and related industries. Qatar has the highest human development in the Arab World after the United Arab Emirates. In 2009, Qatar was the United States' fifth largest export market in the Middle East, trailing behind the U.A.E., Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. With a small citizen population of less than 300,000 people, Qatar relies heavily on foreign citizens, both for its protection and generating labor demand. Qatar has attracted an estimated $100 billion in investment, with approximately $60-70 billion coming from the U.S in the energy sector. It is estimated that Qatar will invest over $120 billion in the energy sector in the next ten years.

Qatar has experienced rapid economic growth over the last several years on the back of high oil prices, and in 2008 posted its eighth consecutive budget surplus. Economic policy is focused on developing Qatar's nonassociated natural gas reserves and increasing private and foreign investment in non-energy sectors, but oil and gas still account for more than 50% of GDP, roughly 85% of export earnings, and 70% of government revenues.

Oil and gas have made Qatar the highest per-capita income country, and one of the world's fastest growing. Proved oil reserves of 15 billion barrels should enable continued output at current levels for 37 years. Qatar's proved reserves of natural gas are nearly 26 trillion cubic meters, about 14% of the world total and third largest in the world.

The discovery of oil, beginning in the 1940s, completely transformed the state's economy. Now the country has a high standard of living, with many social services offered to its citizens and all the amenities of any modern state. It relies heavily on foreign labor to grow the economy to the extent that 94% of the labor is foreigners.

Qatar's national income primarily derives from oil and natural gas exports. Qatar is sometimes referred to as the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. Qataris' wealth and standard of living compare well with those of Western European states; Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the Arab World according to the International Monetary Fund (2006)and the second highest GDP per capita in the world according to the CIA World Factbook.With no income tax, Qatar, along with Bahrain, is one of the countries with the lowest tax rates in the world.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/patents-articles/patent-developments-around-the-world-4984207.html

About the Author

Author is practising Advocate, Registered Patent Agent and Trademark Attorney. Author is partner with IntellexIP Advocates and is member of Supreme Court Bar Association, Delhi High Court Bar Association, New Delhi Bar Association, Asian Patent Attorneys Association. Author can be reached at s.kumar@intellexip.com or www.intellexip.com