Intersessional Meeting for the Second Arab-Asian Dialogue on Intellectual Property Between Japan and Selected Arab Countries

July 13, 2021

The virtual meeting took place on July 8, 2021, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in cooperation with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the League of Arab States (LAS), with the support of financing from the Funds-In-Trust Japan Industrial Property Global. The focus of the virtual meeting was to exchange views and information on IP policy and strategic considerations relating to the current international circumstances and emerging trends in the field of intellectual property; particularly frontier technologies.

In total, eight Arab countries participated in the meeting (Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia), as well as Japan and regional and sub-regional organizations (LAS, Gulf Cooperation Council Patent Office (GCCPO) and Gulf Cooperation Council Training Center (GCC-IPTC)).

Opening

Opening remarks were made by:

Kiyoshi Mori (Mr.), Commissioner, JPO,
Maha Bakhiet Zaki (Dr.), Director, Intellectual Property and Competitiveness Department, LAS,
Hasan Kleib (Mr.), Deputy Director General, Regional and National Development Sector, WIPO, and
Ken-Ichiro Natsume (Mr.), Assistant Director General, Infrastructure and Platforms Sector, WIPO.

Presentations

Session 1 “The Ideal Form of IP Office in a New Era”

Following the opening remarks, Mr. Susumu Iwasaki, Deputy Commissioner, JPO, and Dr. Maha Bakhiet Zaki, LAS, gave presentations on the topic.

Session 2 “IP Offices and frontier technologies: the current state of Affairs” and Session 3 “Frontier Technologies and the administration of patent systems”

After the Session 1, presentations on the topics of Session 2 and 3 were delivered by:

Mona Yehia (Dr.), President, the Egyptian Patent Office, Egypt,
Zain Al Awamleh (Ms.), Director, Industrial Property Protection Directorate (IPPD), Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply, Jordan,
Mouna Bendaoud (Ms.), International Cooperation and Partnerships Division, Moroccan Office of Industiral and Commercial Property (OMPIC), Morocco,
Riadh Soussi (Dr.), Director General, National Institute for Standardization and Industrial Property (INNORPI), Tunisia,
Hwas A. Mohammad (Mr.), Head of Electrical Department, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), Saudi Arabia,
Iman Atabani (Ms.), Registrar General, Ministry of Justice –Intellectual Property Department, Sudan, and
Eman Abdulla Albader (Ms.), Head, GCC-IPTC.

Through the dialogue, participants reaffirmed the importance of developing and properly operating the IP system. Participants also acknowledged the important influence of the fourth industrial revolution on national IP Offices, which need to be flexible and adaptable to the needs of IP users; with the ultimate objective of serving national development goals dedicated to promoting innovation, creativity and sustainable development.

Download the Meeting documents

Previous meeting

Dialogue on Utilizing the IP System for Economic, Social and Cultural Development in the Digital Era – Japan and Selected Arab Countries - October 28 and 29, 2019 (Tokyo, Japan)