UAE’s efforts in developing IP legislation in Cairo highlighted

CAIRO / WAM

The Ministry of Economy (MoEc), represented by the Intellectual Property (IP) sector, has participated in the 11th Intellectual Property Technical Committee meeting held by the Intellectual Property and Competitiveness Department of the League of Arab States in Cairo.
The meeting was attended by several government officials from the IP sector of Arab countries. Dr Abdulrahman Hassan Al Muaini, Assistant Undersecretary for Intellectual Property Rights Sector at the Ministry of Economy, said that the ministry is keen to enhance cooperation with its partners in the government and private sectors at the local, regional, and global levels to develop an integrated protection environment for various IP applications following global best practices.
This includes safeguarding authors’ rights, neighbouring rights, and intellectual works in all fields of literature, arts, and sciences in line with MoEc’s strategic objectives to enhance leadership, competitiveness, and innovation in the UAE and its vision for the next 50.
In his opening speech at the meeting, Al Muaini highlighted the UAE’s efforts in developing legislation governing the IP sector. In this regard, the country updated three laws pertaining to regulating and protecting industrial property rights, trademarks, and copyright and neighbouring rights.
This contributed to enhancing the UAE’s IP environment, stimulating innovation, research, and development in the country, providing integrated protection for trademarks, authors, and creators; creating opportunities to attract innovative projects from all over the world; and encouraging investment in new economy sectors.
The latest meeting followed up on the implementation of the recommendations of the subcommittees of the IP Technical Committee. These are the Subcommittee on Industrial Property and the Subcommittee on Copyright and Neighboring Rights.
In addition, the meeting reviewed the mechanisms for preparing a document on the reality surrounding industrial property in Arab countries, addressing the topic of a regional network for technology and innovation support centres in the region. The challenges facing copyright and neighbouring rights in Arab countries and the ways to confront them were also discussed, apart from completing the preparation of a draft study on copyright and neighbouring rights.
The Technical Committee comprises government officials responsible for IP offices (industrial property offices, copyright offices, and neighbouring rights offices) in Arab countries. It is responsible for establishing rules for cooperation between Arab countries in IP protection, thus enhancing their awareness of IP issues and encouraging innovation.