IP news from the MENA region.
In a move that will be widely welcomed by brand owners, the United Arab Emirates Trade Mark Office has implemented a reduction in the official fees for trade mark registration and renewal services. The changes in the official fees are pursuant to Ministerial Decision no. 51, which entered into force on 7 July 2019. The… Read more »
Cedar White Bradley (CWB) was honoured to deliver a workshop in Dubai to researchers and program managers at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) on intellectual property protection for plant varieties and agriculture-related technology. Richard Gaugeler, a patent attorney, and Tamara El Shibib, a patent portfolio specialist, represented CWB at the workshop, which was… Read more »
In the first major development since last year’s announcement of a new Saudi Intellectual Property Authority, the Council of Ministers appointed three private sector experts last week to the Authority’s Board of Directors: Dr. Fahad Abuhimed, Managing Partner at AS&H Law Firm; Dr. Ali A. Al-Meshari, CEO of Saudi Aramco Upstream Technology Company and manager of… Read more »
Halim Shehadeh, David Harper, Peter Hansen, & Hazem Wahba will be attending the Annual Meeting. We are pleased to announce that we will be attending the 139th Annual Meeting of INTA from 20th to 24th May at FIRA Gran Via, Barcelona, Spain. For more details on the event, please click here We look forward to seeing you… Read more »
We are delighted to announce the promotion of several of our wonderful colleagues: IP Consulting team Promoted to Senior Lawyer – Mohamed Allam (Egypt) – Mohamed Hassan (Egypt) Promoted to Senior Consultant – Theuns van de Merwe (Qatar) TM Portfolio Services and IP Operations teams Promoted to Senior Paralegal – Adnan Saad (Lebanon) – Christine… Read more »
The following is a summary of key points from Nina Osseiran’s presentation titled Navigating the Free Trade Zone Landscape, delivered at INTA Free Trade Zones: Commerce vs Counterfeits workshop held in New York on 21 March 2017. Summary of key points The session focused on the enforcement of IP rights in free trade zones… Read more »
On 16 March 2017, Qatar’s cabinet approved a new industrial designs law and implementing regulations that is set to repeal the former industrial designs law ‘Law No. 9 of Trademarks, Commercial Indications, Trade Names, Geographical Indications, and Industrial Designs & Models’. Under the former law, design rights were protected for a term of five years,… Read more »
Partner Nina Osseiran will be speaking at the MIP Luxury Brand and Retail Forum themed ‘Strategies to preserve and adapt your brand’. She will present on ‘Tackling counterfeits in Free Trade Zones’. The 2nd annual MIP Luxury Brand & Retail Forum USA is aimed to guide delegates through this new world, and advise on all legal… Read more »
Partner Nina Osseiran will be attending this year’s INTA Brands and Fashion Conference, in New York. INTA’s two-day advanced-level conference will feature industry and brand experts addressing issues relevant to the establishment of fashion brands on a global level. For more information on the conference click here. We look forward to meeting with you. … Read more »
Partner Nina Osseiran will be speaking at the INTA Free Trade Zones workshop, session 1, titled ‘Navigating the Free Trade Zone Landscape’. INTA has created a series of one-day workshops to provide a forum for brand owners, free trade zone authorities, government officials, and other key stakeholders to share their concerns, best practices, and to work together… Read more »
The following is a summary of key points by legal consultant, Fatema Fathnezhad who was one of the panellists talking about intellectual property protection and contractual issues that PR and media agencies face in the UAE. The PR Pressure Conference, session 1 was titled ‘Maintaining proper form: A discussion around the legal aspects of our industry’,… Read more »
The following is a summary of key points from Tamara El-Shibib’s and Fatema Fathnezhad’s presentation titled ‘IP protection and commercialisation for software’, delivered on 26 January 2017 at in5 Innovation Hub in Dubai. Summary of key points Dubai is quickly building its reputation as a startup hub in the region. In5, part of the TECOM group,… Read more »
The following is a summary of key points from Tamara El-Shibib’s presentation titled ‘Capturing & Managing R&D Assets as IP’, delivered at the IIPLA 3rd Dubai IP Congress in the Middle East, held in Dubai on 16 – 17 January 2017. Summary of key points The session focused on strategies for identifying and managing R&D… Read more »
Tamara El-Shibib, Patent Portfolio Specialist will be attending the congress. In its tenth edition, Innovation Arabia, the Middle East’s pioneering Congress on education, business, environment, healthcare and Islamic banking & finance, is proud to announce the theme ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Engines of Sustainability’. For more details click here. We look forward to meeting with… Read more »
PR Pressure is an ongoing series of conferences addressing the challenges faced by the industry in the Middle East. For more details click here. Fatema Fathnezhad, Legal Consultant is on the panel at 9:15am – 10.45am discussing the legal aspects relating to IP for the PR industry. We look forward to meeting you at the… Read more »
The Egyptian Patent Office announced an increase in patent examination fees in Egypt, effective 23 February 2017. The cost for requesting a substantive examination of a patent application has increased from EGP 7,000 to EGP 17,530. The increase will apply to all applications requesting examination on or after 13 February 2017. The increase was a result… Read more »
Cedar White Bradley (CWB) is pleased to feature again in the rankings for WTR 1000 in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The WTR 1000 research directory, which focuses exclusively on trademark practices and practitioners, has firmly established itself as the definitive ‘go-to’ resource for those seeking legal trademark expertise. “By bringing Cedar White Bradley on… Read more »
Microsoft Summit is taking place on 1 February 2017 at Waldorf Astoria, The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Halim Shehadeh, CEO, Cedar White Bradley (CWB) will attend and take part in a Q&A session looking at our ERP/CRM journey hosted by Levtech Consulting, one of the platinum sponsors and speakers at the summit. CWB… Read more »
This session will provide an introduction to intellectual property concepts and an overview of protection and commercialisation strategies for software. Key Discussion Points: Introduction to intellectual assets (IAs) and Intellectual Property (IP) Protection strategies for software IP Laws protecting software in the UAE Technology maturity Routes to market Key legal agreements Q&A Speakers include: Tamara… Read more »
It is the Gulf’s largest intellectual Property Conference in its third successful year. For more details click here. Tamara El-Shibib, Patent Portfolio Specialist will be speaking on day 1, session 2 at 11:30am – 12:45pm on IP Asset and Patent Portfolio Management. Richard Gaugeler, Patent Attorney will also be attending the congress. We welcome you… Read more »
The discussion hosted two panel sessions covering; How regulations in the UAE can support the expansion of ehealth and, Does IP create roadblocks to widespread access to unmet health needs? David Harper, Partner and Tamara El-Shibib, Patent Portfolio Specialist attended the discussion alongside government bodies and private companies.
The workshop was co-hosted by the Saudi Consumer Protection Association, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition and UL. There were various panel sessions held covering topics including; Government Initiatives that will Defeat IP Crime, Innovative Methods to Combat IP Crime and Impact of Counterfeit Products on Consumer Health & Safety. Brent Rasmussen, Senior Legal Consultant attended the… Read more »
The event offered a wide range of topics focused on litigation, e-discovery, security and risk management, regulatory compliance, and intellectual property,patents and trademark. David Harper, Partner attended the event alongside IP lawyers, in-house and external IP counsel, legal service providers among others.
Official fees relating to the registration of trade mark matters have increased in Syria. Although the increase in fees within Syria are not as dramatic as recently seen in other countries in the region, the changes are still considerable. The publication of a new or renewed application has increased from 20,000 Syrian Pound (91 USD)… Read more »
The official fees for trade mark related matters have been significantly increased in Bahrain. The Ministry of Industry & Commerce in Bahrain issued a Ministerial Decree No. 65 for the year 2016 approving the Implementing Regulations of the Unified GCC Trademark Law No. 6 for the year 2014. The increased official fees are effective as… Read more »
Cedar White Bradley is pleased to be included in the Managing Intellectual Property, IP Stars (Firms) awards. CWB is listed in multiple jurisdictions, recognising the quality and depth of IP work CWB specialises in across the MENA region. UAE Partner, David Harper, has also been recognised as a Trade Mark Star 2016.
Brand owners will be pleased to hear that the UAE Minister for Justice has, this month, announced the setting up of dedicated courts in the UAE to handle intellectual property rights disputes (“IPR disputes”). The establishment of dedicated IPR courts (which includes the Judicial Inspection Department providing specialised training to judges on IPR issues) is… Read more »
Cedar White Bradley is pleased to announce it has been shortlisted for the Middle East IP Firm of the Year 2016 by Managing IP. Winners will be announced at Managing IP’s annual Global Awards dinner to be held on 10 March at The Savoy Hotel in London, England.
The UAE Trade Mark Office has recently changed to an online filing system, on 6 December 2015. Although it is expected to have little impact on rights holders, there is now a greater onus on local practitioners within the new process. As part of the new system local practitioners will now need to upload documents… Read more »
The Peninsula newspaper (15 November 2015) reports on the crackdown on illegal pirated CDs and DVDs. The Ministry of Economy and Commerce have seized 3,382 discs, as well as two devices used to create the illegal copies. Authorities are urging customers to buy only original products, and has confirmed they will be taking legal action… Read more »
The 5th Regional Intellectual Property Crime Conference in the Middle East and Africa takes place on 16 and 17 November 2015. The annual conference will be held at the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa, Dubai and will include speakers from Dubai Police, Dubai Customs and Interpol. Auday Alobaidy, Anti-Counterfeiting Manager from Cedar White Bradley… Read more »
Kuwait is set to become the latest GCC country to dramatically increase official fees for intellectual property transactions. The official announcement is expected to be published on 21 December 2015. Although not yet officially confirmed, the fee increase is expected to be significant, with one trade mark filing (single class) rising from $25 to $264,… Read more »
On 3 July 2015, Qatar deposited its instrument of ratification of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. The treaty is aimed at affording certain protections to performers over their audiovisual works, and placing duties on Qatar to provide adequate legal remedies to ensure those protections. Examples of the envisaged protections include the performer’s right to… Read more »
On 9 September 2015 a United States Federal Court issued its ruling on a protracted trade mark legal battle between luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co and wholesale trader Costco Wholesale Corp over the famous TIFFANY trade mark. The Court denied Costco’s claims that the TIFFANY mark has become a generic term for a type of… Read more »
According to a new federal law governing internet users in the UAE, people swearing at others online may be fined up to AED 250,000 and imprisoned, while expats may also be deported. The Federal Supreme Court (FSC) emphasised the new law by overturning two lower court sentences fining a man AED 3,000 for swearing at… Read more »
Qatar has reportedly become the first GCC country to open a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Receiving Office. This means that, in addition to Qatar being a designatable country under the PCT, it is now possible for nationals and residents of Qatar to file international applications under the PCT locally. Qatar has also adopted the ePCT… Read more »
On 1 June 2015, the Egypt Patent Office (EGPO) and the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) agreed to commence a Patent Prosecution Highway program (PPH), making Egypt the first country in Africa to participate in such a program. In essence, the PPH program is a partnership between the two participating patent offices which allows applicants whose… Read more »
Jordan has lately announced some amendments to the country’s Drug and Pharmacy Law. The amendments – which came into force as of 18 May 2015 – basically aim at implementing stricter penalties against the counterfeiting of pharmaceutical products and medicines. These include combining imprisonment and fines for counterfeiters and increasing the amount of fines to… Read more »
The City of London Police have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of purchasing counterfeit products and the risks associated with using such products. The increasing popularity of online shopping has led to a flood of counterfeit goods on the online market. The “wake up – don’t fake up!” campaign warns that… Read more »
The Trade Marks Registrar has issued new directives ceasing the legal extension of registered trade marks in Iraq to Kurdistan. Prior to this decision, obtaining legal protection through registration of trade marks in Kurdistan was possible according to the following: if the trade mark is already registered or accepted for registration in Iraq and the… Read more »
The Abu Dhabi Department of Commercial Protection released its annual report for 2014, detailing that a total of 14,011 field visits were conducted to monitor trade mark violations and 55,532 commercial goods were confiscated as a result of these violations. The categories of seized goods included clothing, shoes and accessories, cosmetics and skin care items,… Read more »
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Abu Dhabi Police force have arrested a national for the unauthorised dissemination of copyright protected films over the Internet through a paid file sharing website. It is reported that the CID had received complaints from the producer of the film (considered to be one of the “top movies… Read more »
The Federal Customs Authority (FCA), in collaboration with the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Institute of Training and Judicial Studies in the UAE held the second annual Forum on Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR Forum) at the Conrad Hotel, Dubai, UAE. A number of distinguished international speakers including representatives from the World Customs… Read more »
We reported in April 2015 that significant official fee increases are to go into effect on 29 May 2015 in the United Arab Emirates for patent, design, copyright and trade mark transactions. In addition to the increases reported in the previous bulletin, it has now been communicated that the penalty for late payment of publication… Read more »
The US Trade Representative (USTR) kept Lebanon on the Watch List in his Annual Special 301 Report for 2015 due to its ineffective measures in protecting intellectual property rights including copyright. The USTR had placed Lebanon on the Watch List in 1999 and then lowered its status to the Watch List Priority in 2001 where… Read more »
The first video was uploaded on YouTube a decade ago and the website was quickly acquired by Google, 18 months later in October of 2006. According to in-house counsel, heading up YouTube’s trade mark and anti-counterfeiting departments, one of the biggest challenges has been finding a balance between addressing brand owner concerns while protecting the… Read more »
On 16 April 2015 WIPO launched a multilingual interface of ePCT, marking a major expansion of its global gateway for online filing and management of international patent applications. The new user interface of the system is now available in Arabic, English, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. The availability of the interface… Read more »
INTA’s Board of Directors has approved a policy resolution that opposes restrictions on trademark use through plain and standardised product packaging. There has been much debate in recent years around the adoption of plain packaging particularly in the tobacco industry; Australia was the first country to enact laws that mandated plain packaging on tobacco products… Read more »