Ahmed Alsallal is as much artist as entrepreneur and finely attuned to the creative possibilities and commercial opportunities connected with intellectual property (IP). As a producer and poet, he creates songs for large organizations in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf Cooperation Council region. Some of his productions for professional artists have reached over 500 million views on YouTube and other platforms.
Alsallal also works for the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP). In November 2024, he gave the Diplomatic Conference to Conclude and Adopt a Design Law Treaty, which was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an artistic flourish by composing a sonic signature aligned with the event’s visual identity. "I always compose here in my head," he says. “I saw the palm tree. I saw the heritage, the designs, the tradition." And so, he was inspired to merge traditional Saudi elements—including ardah rhythms and the distinctive sound of the oud—with contemporary orchestration, working with an arranger to complete the composition and incorporating a “flavor of the Saudi national anthem”.
The music became the soundtrack for the 11-day conference, which resulted in the adoption of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty (RDLT). The aim of the Treaty is to help designers to protect their work in markets at home and abroad.
As a producer, Alsallal specializes in what he calls “national songs” – patriotic promotional music. “I have done more than 60 national songs with private and public companies and organizations," he says. They often express “our ambition and dreams for this country”.
He has also served as a judge with MBC, the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa, “to evaluate and nurture talent across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he says.
"AI will take music to new levels of precision, but it is the human heart that gives it soul."
Despite the advance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative industries, Alsallal believes in working with human performers.
“Let's keep this ethical rule,” he urges. “Yes, we can use AI as a tool to help us to develop and increase our creativity, but we should not rely on machines. Artists still have their feelings to draw on, and they have families to support, regardless of what technology can achieve.”
Asked about IP promotion in Saudi Arabia and his work for SAIP, Alsallal points to a recent campaign, Feel the Creativity, and emphasizes that music transcends cultural boundaries: “ No matter what language you speak, you'll understand the language of music because it speaks to the soul and resonates in the heart.”
Are you a designer or design writer? We’d like to hear from you as WIPO Magazine enters its next season ahead of the centenary of WIPO’s international registration of industrial designs. The Hague System allows users to register up to 100 designs in 99 countries by filing a single application.
