Under the patronage of the Bahraini Minister of Information, Mr. Nabeel bin Yacoob Al Hamer, the Economist Corporate Network hosted the inaugural roundtable on Intellectual Property (IP) issues in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), April 21 in Bahrain. The Conference focused on the region's IP and trademark issues, ameinfo.com reported.
Government officials from the GCC countries and leading IP experts gathered for the first time this April in Manama, to openly debate the following IP issues:
• IP Infringement: what is the scope of the problem and what must governments do?
• What are the practical IP protection issues at ground level?
• Why is enforcement lacking and how should governments strengthen their approach?
• What impact will global trends have on the GCC: from WTO to US free trade and the EU?
• How can businesses and governments cooperate to improve IP protection?
Keynote speakers representing governments, businesses and intellectual property organizations, participated in this event.
The participants examined how to translate global IP policies into concrete initiatives in the Middle East. This conference was sponsored by Philip Morris International, Automotive Brand Protection Coalition Middle East (ACME), Business Software Alliance (BSA), in addition to a coalition of FMCG companies, and is supported by Gambate Communications Consultancy.
“Intellectual Property Protection in the GCC was second in a line of regional conference initiatives after the first “Corporate Social Responsibility in the Middle East” being held in Dubai in September 2003.