Anti piracy, illicit trade and counterfeit issues and their risks to the local, regional and international economy and the enforcement of Intellectual Property rights will come under the spotlight at the first Arab Intellectual Property (IP) Forum.

The event, organised by the Ministry of Economy, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and Khasawneh & Associates-Legal Consultants, will be held in Abu Dhabi on January 8 and 9, 2008.

Announcing their participation and support of the two-day event, which is held under the patronage of Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Economy, members of the Brand Owners Protection Group (BPG), a non-profit organisation set up to fight illegal replication of genuine goods, will be among a list of high profile keynote speakers at the event.

“Counterfeiting and piracy activities are not only a violation of national and international laws and agreements that govern Intellectual Property Rights, but also have dire consequences on the economy and cause a direct loss to the countries Gross Domestic Production (GDP), losses in tax revenues, and loss in employment opportunities,” said chairman of the BPG and the Regional Intellectual Property Advisor for Nestlé Middle East Omar Shteiwi.

The BPG has strong and close ties with the Ministry of Economy in matters related to combating counterfeiting and fighting illicit trade, in addition to supporting the enforcement of Intellectual Property rights.

The BPG is working closely with the MOE and in April 2007 both parties jointly held a celebration of world IP day and a display of original and counterfeited products that ran parallel to the celebration, in a bid to create awareness for authentic products.

Arab Intellectual Property Forum will also address electronic commerce, IP and arbitration matters relating to Cyber Crime Laws and exploitation of domain names as well as the use of IP in franchising and brand management techniques that build successful businesses. – TradeArabia News Service