Abu Dhabi event on Commercial Fraud and Consumer Protection in January 2012

A email from the Abu Dhabi Department for Economic Development brings news of a seminar/exhibition to raise awareness of Commercial Fraud and Consumer Protection taking place on Wednesday 25 January 2012 in Al Sila City in co-operation with the Department of Municipal Affairs – Western Region. The email refers to “..the department’s aims of fighting commercial fraud…to maintain…[the] safety of consumers”.

This part of the Empty Quarter welcomes news of any event to raise awareness with consumers, particularly where the organizer has a primary focus on safety. Too many counterfeit goods are simply not safe, a fact which is often lost when the trigger for action is trade mark infringement. Trade marks serve a purpose and consumers should be able to rely on the quality message they embody. 

WIPO and Egypt sign MoU on establishing an IP institute

The WIPO SMEs Newsletter of January 2012 (which doesnt yet seem to appear on the WIPO website) brings news that WIPO will be working with the government of Egypt to establish an IP Institute. The newsletter reads:

“WIPO will support Egypt in establishing an institute that is dedicated to the teaching of intellectual property (IP). A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on October 26, 2011, by Ambassador Hisham Badr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations office in Geneva, and WIPO Director General Francis Gurry that outlines the areas of collaboration. The MoU was signed in the presence of Ambassador Ahmed Fatah Allah, First Undersecretary of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

This part of the Empty Quarter welcomes any initiative to share knowledge and increase learning. Egypt has been a centre of learning for many hundreds of years, has a large population from which to find bright, young minds interested in IP and a diverse open society. Learned Egyptian minds have, for many years, travelled across the region and perhaps this new institute will create a new generation to carry on that tradition. There are few institutions across the region with a specialist focus on IP and perhaps this initiative will encourage the creation of more.

Oman acceeds to the Hague Convention

A newsletter from SMAS-IP brings news that Oman has acceded to the Hague Convention abolishing the requirements of legalisation of foreign public documents. The Sultanate Decree No. 47/2009 comes in to force on 30 January 2012. As a result documents from other states who have acceded to the Convention will require only an Apostille with no need for legalisation to the Omani Consulate in the country of execution.

This part of the Empty Quarter heartily welcomes any move which reduces the administrative burden on rights holders. The requirement for documents to be notarised, legalised, and sometimes re-legalised is burdensome, time-consuming and expensive. In some countries the process can take weeks rather than days. Acceding to the Convention is clearly a matter for each sovereign nation. This part of the Empty Quarter hopes that this move by the Sultanate of Oman will be followed by other members of the GCC and elsewhere across the wider region.

Saudi Arabian Customs hold IP event in Riyadh in January 2012

A report from good friends, Nassir Kadasa & Partners, in Riyadh, brings news of a conference and exhibition organised by the Customs Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on the afternoon of Saturday 28 January 2012 at the Customs Headquarters. A limited number of service providers in Saudi Arabia have been invited to exhibit details of the rights and rights holders they represent to an audience made up exclusively of officials from Customs in the Kingdom.

This part of the Empty Quarter has had good experiences of Customs in Saudi Arabia and knows that they can be very effective at inspecting and detaining shipments of counterfeit goods, coupled with a good balance between procedural formality and the exercise of discretion on deadlines. Opportunities for representatives of rights holders to share information with Customs officials are welcome and can only further enhance the understanding of IP amongst those charged with guarding the borders.

WCO and UAE Federal Customs to host forum in April 2012

News from a friend of a friend is that a WCO Forum will be taking place with the Federal Customs Authority of the UAE in Abu Dhabi from 9-11 April 2012. While the agenda is not yet finalised the current plans are:

1st day: Government agencies will discuss IP Law

2nd day: IP laws will be discussed with the private sector

3rd day: Workshops will be conducted by right holders showcasing their products to UAE Customs inspectors and others.

Attendees are likely to include the Customs Administrations of the UAE, the World Customs Organization, interested Governments represented in the Embassies in the UAE, the Private Sector, the UAE Ministry of Economy, the UAE Ministry of Health, Chambers of Commerce from each of the emirates, and others. There is also a report that the UAE Federal Customs Authority has joined the IPM program of the World Customs Organization.

This part of the Empty Quarter welcomes discussions between the private sector and governments, welcomes the opportunity for rights holders to share information with Customs officials, and welcomes the return of the WCO to the UAE. The UAE has a rich history of working with the WCO on IP issues. A former Director General of the WCO once commented at a planning meeting for an event that he wished for the event to produce less talk and more action. The part of the Empty Quarter wholeheartedly agrees with that sentiment.

Iraq Patent Office requires Israel boycott declaration

News has reached this part of the Empty Quarter from a client that the Iraqi Patent Office has recently started to require that applications for patents be accompanied by an Israel boycott declaration. In this particular example the declaration is required in the Power of Attorney provided by the local agent to the client and the local agent has confirmed that failure to provide the declaration will result in the application being rejected on the basis that the formality requirements have not been met. The boycott declaration had been a requirement in Iraq, but has not been since 2008. The Whats Up In IP? blog reports the same issue from last year.


This part of the Empty Quarter prefers clarity and hopes that an official announcement will be made by the authorities in Iraq as to whether the Israel boycott declaration is required or not. 

Trade mark reservation in South Sudan

A report has been received that the Ministry of Justice in South Sudan has issued a directive to officials at the Trade Mark Office to implement procedures for the “reservation of a trade mark” until a Trade Mark law is issued. The procedure is:

1.    A written application is submitted setting out the mark to be protected

2.    The Registrar searches the Registry database to confirm whether the mark is reserved or not.

3.    If the mark is not already reserved, it will be reserved in applicant’s name

As yet, there are no official fees for the reservation.

This part of the Empty Quarter hopes that one of the many international agencies likely to be assisting this fledgling State will be particularly focused on setting up a smoothly running Trade Mark Office. The Government of South Sudan has a good web presence for a new state (http://www.goss.org/) which bodes well for an on-line Register.