Promotion and Development of the Use of the Intellectual Property System

The Arab Bureau also designs and implements activities to increase the use of intellectual property systems in the Arab countries by improving the knowledge of such systems for its users and the general public. Three areas are given special attention by the Bureau: the promotion of innovation and creativity, the promotion of access and use of industrial property information, and the strengthening of collective management societies for copyright and related rights.

The Bureau has cooperated with a number of eminent economists from the Arab countries in conducting a Study on the Performance of Copyright Industries in Selected Arab Countries.

Meetings on patents are organized for the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), to discuss their existing national patent laws and its relationship with the GCC patent regulations (which are administered by the patent office of the GCC), the review by the TRIPS Council in implementing legislation in the field of patents, as well as industrial property issues for a new round of multilateral trade negotiations.

Furthermore, meetings on the WIPO registration systems, and particularly on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) are organized to offer an opportunity to the Arab countries to receive legal and technical information on the PCT system and its different procedures. The meetings also allow participants to share experience and information, define common interests and explore areas of possible future cooperation in using the PCT system.

The promotion of the Madrid Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs have also been discussed at several meetings in the Arab countries.