Thirty Dubai, Sharjah and Northern Emirates top law enforcement officials are to undergo extensive training on intellectual property rights which will further enable them to identify illegal and counterfeit activities as well as raise awareness on Intellectual Property Rights.

The workshop, which will be held from April 7 to 14 at the Millennium Hotel, in Sharjah, is organised by the Brand Owners Protection Group (BPG), in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Economy – Control Department.

“The aim of the workshop is to provide awareness to local law enforcement officials of all forms of violation against Intellectual Property rights. The workshop will also highlight on counterfeit trade and will demonstrate various ways to identify and prevent this illegal activity which is a menace to society and the economy,” said chairman of BPG and regional intellectual property advisor for Nestlé Middle East Omar Shteiwi.

The participating local law enforcers who will attend the training are composed of officials from the Ministry of Economy, the Sharjah Municipality, Um-el-Quwain Municipality, Department of Economic Development in RAK, Department of Economic Development in Um-el-Quwain, Dubai Customs, Sharjah Customs, RAK Customs, Al-Fujairah Customs.

This workshop is second in line in a series of continued awareness workshops, the most recent one was held on January 2008 in Dubai.

“The ongoing training workshops throughout the UAE and soon in the GCC aim to significantly reduce malicious activities which violates the intellectual property rights of the legitimate brand owners as they create awareness for the various law enforcers who are directly involved in uncovering counterfeits and illegal traders. The training sessions will tremendously help the enforcers to easily identify what is authentic from what is fake,” Shteiwi added.

Participating at the workshop are BPG members Beiersdorf, BMW, Black & Decker, Daimler, Kao Brands Company, Nestlé, Philip Morris, and Sanofi Aventis.

The BPG is a non-profit organisation set up to fight illegal replication of genuine goods and other forms of illegal trade and strengthening the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

BPG members include Beiersdorf Middle East, Black & Decker (Overseas) A.G., BMW Group Middle East, British American Tobacco, Daimler Middle East FZE, Estee Lauder Middle East FZE, Ford Motor Company, GlaxoSmithKline, GM Overseas Distribution Corp., Johnson & Johnson M.E., Kao Brands Company, Kraft Foods, Master Foods Middle East, Nestle Middle East FZE, Philip Morris Management Services Middle East Ltd., Phillips International, Procter & Gamble, Sanofi Aventis, and Unilever. – TradeArabia News Service