UAE acceds to the Beijing and Marrakesh Treaties

News from WIPO today that the United Arab Emirates has acceded to both the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances and the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled.

Beijing Notification No. 6
Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances
Accession by the United Arab Emirates

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify the deposit by the Government of the United Arab Emirates, on October 15, 2014, of its instrument of accession to the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, adopted at Beijing on June 24, 2012.

The date of entry into force of the said Treaty will be notified when the required number of ratifications or accessions is reached in accordance with Article 26 of the said Treaty.

October 15, 2014
Marrakesh Notification No. 3
Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled
Accession by the United Arab Emirates

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify the deposit by the Government of the United Arab Emirates, on October 15, 2014, of its instrument of accession to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, adopted at Marrakesh on June 27, 2013.

The date of entry into force of the said Treaty will be notified when the required number of ratifications or accessions is reached in accordance with Article 18 of the said Treaty.

October 15, 2014

Libya - Patent Office resumes normal operations

Following the earlier post here reporting that the Trade Mark Office may resume normal operations there is the very welcome news here from good friends Saba & Co in their October 2014 Bulletin that the Patent Office has already resumed normal operations. The item reads:

The Libyan Patent Office has resumed operations as of September 15, 2014. There are indications that the Trademark Office may follow suit. We will be closely monitoring the situation and updating you accordingly.

Should you have any questions, or require any additional information, please contact us atinfo@sabaip.com

Kuwait acceds to the Berne and Paris Conventions

News from WIPO via a newsletter from early September that:

Paris Notification No. 220Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
Accession by the State of Kuwait

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify the deposit by the Government of the State of Kuwait, on September 2, 2014, of its instrument of accession to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883, as revised at Stockholm on July 14, 1967, and as amended on September 28, 1979 (Paris Convention).

The Paris Convention will enter into force, with respect to the State of Kuwait, on December 2, 2014. On that date, the State of Kuwait will become a member of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property ("Paris Union"), founded by the Paris Convention.

September 2, 2014

Berne Notification No. 268Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
Accession by the State of Kuwait

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify the deposit by the Government of the State of Kuwait, on September 2, 2014, of its instrument of accession to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of September 9, 1886, as revised at Paris on July 24, 1971, and amended on September 28, 1979.

The Berne Convention will enter into force, with respect to the State of Kuwait, on December 2, 2014. On that date, the State of Kuwait will also become a member of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works ("Berne Union"), founded by the Berne Convention.

September 2, 2014

Morocco - Afro-IP reports on IP policy in Morocco

A report from mid-September from the ever interesting and useful Afro-IP blog continuing the useful review of IP polocies in Africa comes to Morocco. The report reads:


Morocco does not yet have an IP policy nor was this Leo able to find any information on the development of such a policy. She decided to poke about to see what the country has been up to recently in the hope that this would reveal what a Moroccan IP policy is likely to prioritise.

Morocco is party to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US (see full text here) and a co-operation agreement with the EPO (see here). Pursuant to her signature of the FTA, Morocco has a TRIPS- plus IP regulatory framework. Presumably also linked to this relationship with the US, Morocco was the only African country involved in the negotiation and conclusion of the ill-fated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which she signed in 2011 (see here). All of this may be an indicator that the country favours a strong (read TRIPS plus) regime which this Leo fears may not be appropriate for a developing country. However, the country has shown some appreciation of the need to have a properly nuanced IP regime that caters for users through its signature of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. It remains to be seen when the county will ratify the treaty and how her IP policy would balance her FTA obligations with user and societal rights.

....................
WIPOLex entry here
for a discussion of the Morocco-US FTA see Omar Aloui 'Intellectual Property Rights' in Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Claire Brunel and Dean DeRosa (ed.s) Capitalizing on the Morocco-US Free Trade Agreement: A Road Map for Success (Policy Analyses in International Economics) (2009) pp147 - 162 ; full text here
Thank you, Afro-IP!

Libya - Trade Mark Office may restart operations

Further to earlier an post here with news in late August and early September that the Libyan Trade Mark Office had suspended operations there is news in the September 2014 newsletter from NJQ & Associates that thwe Libyan Trade Mark Office may restart operations in mid-October, after the Eid Al Adha holiday. 

Egypt and Oman sign a memorandum of understanding on substantive examination of patents

News from NJQ & Associates that Egypt and Oman have signed a memorandum of understanding on substantive examination of patents. The September 2014 issues of the NJQ & Associates newsletters says:

On 13 September 2014, the Head of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology in Egypt and the Minister of Industry in Oman has signed a memorandum of understanding agreement with respect to cooperation in the field of patents and other intellectual property matters between both countries.

Accordingly, there will be an exchange of practices between both patent offices, and the Egyptian Patent Office (EGPO) will host researchers from the Oman Patent Office (OPTO) for training in substantive examination of patent applications in Oman. The EGPO will also send examiners to the OPTO for training purposes. Additionally, all pending patent applications in Oman will be examined by the EGPO.

Needless to say, the EGPO is an accepted examiner at WIPO and PCT offices.

For more information or assistance you may contact our Egypt office at egypt@qumsieh.com

The news has also been reported by Saba & Co in the October 2014 Bulletin here which reads:

The Omani and the Egyptian Patent Offices signed a memorandum of understanding on September 10, 2014 in which the two offices will work together towards the development of capabilities at the Omani Patent Office.

The Egyptian Patent Office will also act as the examining office for all pending and new patent applications filed in Oman. The Egyptian Patent Office is the only Arab office that serves as an International Search Authority, as well as an International Preliminary Examination Authority.

The expected procedure in brief is as follows: upon passing examination as to form, the examination fees will be due. Following examination and upon acceptance, the application will be published in the Official Gazette. There will be an opposition period of four months, after which, assuming no opposition is filed, the application will be granted and the granted patent will be re-published in the Official Gazette and the related registration certificate (Letters Patent) will be issued.

The official fees related to this new procedure will be officially published and the examination process further described as soon as additional steps have been completed.

Should you have any questions, or require any additional information, please contact us at info@sabaip.com

Syria – legalisation of Powers of Attorney – update

Further news (earlier post here) from good friends AGIP about legalisation of Powers of Attorney in Syria in a news alert dated 3 October 2014:

DAMASCUS – Further to the press release statement of September 28, 2014, we would like to provide the following update on the legalization of the Power of Attorney in Syria.

After strenuous efforts, in liaison with other parties, we could persuade the Syrian Foreign Ministry to receive the Powers of Attorney with an earlier signing date up to one year backdate, and the Ministry will, thereafter, proceed with forwarding the POAs to the concerned security departments. The POA procedures will be as follows:

The Foreign Ministry receives the original POA giving receipt number and date, and then forwards this document to security departments for approval or rejection. If rejected, the original POA is retained with the Ministry. If accepted, the POA is further sent to the Interior Ministry, which in turn, will forward it to other security departments for clearance. Such procedures will take more than (4) months.