Under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Trade & Industry, a Seminar on "How to Protect your Trademark and Design in Europe" took place November 28, 2004 in Cairo. The seminar was organized by the Arab Society for Intellectual Property (ASIP) in cooperation with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) and in collaboration with the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) and the Italian Chamber of Commerce (CCI), sponsored by Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP).
During the opening session Dr. Hany Barakat, representative of H.E. Eng. Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry, along with Dr. Fawzi Al-Rafai, Chairman of the Scientific Research Academy, representative of H.E. Dr. Amr Salame, Minister of Scientific Research & Higher Education, discussed the recently issued intellectual property law in Egypt.
Mr. Slim Tlatly, Executive Director of the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) discussed the five components of the EU projects in Egypt that is managed by the IMC to support the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), with a budget of 426 million Euros. As for the CCI representative Mr. Sherif Abd El Latif, he urged participants interested in entering new markets to register their trademarks prior to using them in any internal or foreign market.
Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGO), announced in his presentation that AGIP would complete a database of all registered trademarks in the Arab countries along with IP Court ruling database also for the Arab countries prior to the end of this year. He declared to the attendees that AGIP has launched the first Global IP News Agency in the Arab world last July. Moreover, he also announced the launching of the first IP Qualification Program.
International presenters from OHIM spoke to the attendees who represent major trademarks owners in Egypt on how to file and register their trademarks and designs in Europe. Moreover they focused on the right approach for exporters, manufacturers, and trademark owners to safely protect their Intellectual Property Rights, as well as the appeals, revocations and invalidities in Europe.