The Secretariat General of the League of Arab States celebrated World Intellectual Property Day under the slogan "Intellectual Property and Youth: Innovation for a Better Future", on Thursday, May 19, 2022, at the headquarters of the Secretariat General in Cairo. This year, the celebration slogan aims at young inventors, innovators, and creators in particular, for youth to be fully aware of their intellectual property rights and to register their inventions and literary and artistic creations to preserve their material and moral rights.
https://youtu.be/EX8ZjLxb0Hc
The celebration included sessions dealing with several themes, presented by several experts and young inventors from Arab states. Moreover, best experiences and practices were presented from Arab states, and some outstanding people in this field were honoured.
Why does the world celebrate World Intellectual Property Day?
On 26th April 1970, the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) entered into force. In 2000, the member states of the organization decided to choose this day as an anniversary to celebrate and raise awareness of the intellectual property.
The celebration of this day is intended to promote global awareness of intellectual property including all its forms and types, such as patents, trademarks, and copyright, in recognition of its significance in encouraging creativity and innovation. World Intellectual Property Day annually provides many opportunities for young researchers and innovative youth to share experiences and ideas in various fields of intellectual property. The aforementioned contributes to enhancing development and confronting global challenges in the field of health, environment, and green innovation.
An effective intellectual property system ensures a balance between the interests of inventors and creators and the interests of the community. Whereas, concluding an intellectual product serving the community is only achieved if the creators' work in an environment preserves their moral and material rights. Consequently, they dedicated their time and powers to extrapolating new technology and coming up with new forms of creative expression without concern about a violation of their rights.
The League of Arab States used to annually celebrate World Intellectual Property Day at the headquarters of the Secretariat General. This celebration is a forum and meeting for dialogue and discussion regarding various intellectual property issues. This celebration also provides a platform to present common experiments and share experiences for convergence and cooperation among all and highlight the efforts of Arab states to promote the intellectual property field. All parties concerned with the intellectual property field in the Arab world are invited, including experts, researchers, innovators, and university professors, as well as international and regional organizations to participate in these events.
Why was the "Intellectual Property and Youth" theme chosen as a slogan to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day 2022?
This year, the world celebrates World Intellectual Property Day under the slogan: "Intellectual Property and Youth: Innovation for a Better Future". This slogan was chosen to celebrate youth innovation and creativity and to bring to light the pivotal role of intellectual property in encouraging innovation. Furthermore, this slogan was chosen with the belief in the great capabilities of youth able to confront challenges and advance economic and social development for a sustainable future.
Intellectual property rights are currently a critical topic to prominence. These rights provide legal protection for inventors through patent registration and preservation of moral and material rights, which generates more creativity and innovation. Therefore, the celebration of "World Intellectual Property Day" this year is an opportunity for youth to know how to use intellectual property tools to support their objectives and develop their ideas in practice.
https://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/ar/ipday/
Working towards the protection of intellectual property rights: What are the efforts made by the Secretariat General of the League of Arab States in this regard?
Believing in the significance of the intellectual property issue within the work of the League of Arab States, a resolution was issued by the Council of the League of Arab States in 2001 to establish the Intellectual Property Unit within the organizational structure of the Office of the Secretary-General. This Unit is established to be concerned with coordinating all matters related to intellectual property affairs in the various work of the Secretariat General of the League of Arab States.
Due to global economic developments and the increasing trend towards the knowledge community, intellectual property has become a major element in all economic, social, and development plans of Arab states. Intellectual property has also become a critical element for economic and social growth. Subsequently, H.E. Secretary-General issued a resolution in 2012 to establish the "Intellectual Property and Competition Department" within the organizational structure of the economic affairs sector at the League of Arab States. This emphasizes the diligence and interest of the League of Arab States in intellectual property.
For more information: http://www.leagueofarabstates.net/en/intellectualproperty/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.leagueofarabstates.net/en/intellectualproperty/Pages/latestnews.aspx
Foremost among the accomplishments of the department is presenting the "Legal and Technical Assistance for Arab Inventors" initiative under the slogan "Towards More Patents in Arab States". This initiative was in cooperation with the Arab Lawyers Union, (https://www.alu1944.org) and under the auspices of H.E. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. This initiative was intended to provide legal and technical support and assistance to inventors in Arab states in preparation for patent requests by volunteer patent agents from Arab states. An implementation mechanism is currently being developed for this initiative.
http://www.leagueofarabstates.net/en/intellectualproperty/Pages/releases.aspx
In 2016, the Economic and Social Council also issued a resolution to establish the "Technical Committee of Intellectual Property" formed by managers of government offices for intellectual property in Arab states. This Committee is intended to institutionalize cooperation and coordination between the Arab states in this regard. The committee seeks to develop intellectual property legislation and laws in the Arab states, according to their requirements and the challenges confronted by the Arab states in this regard.
Recognise the outstanding Arab strategies regarding the intellectual property rights field:
Due to the great significance of protecting intellectual property rights to encourage creativity and innovation, this theme has become an essential clause within the strategies concerned with practical research on the agenda of Arab and development summits. For example, the Amman Summit in 2017 issued the "Arab Strategy for Scientific, Technological Research and Innovation". This Summit listed special provisions for the protection of intellectual property in the practical research field in recognition of its effective role to achieve comprehensive sustainable development by providing legal protection for innovators and creators.
The full text of the strategy: https://bit.ly/3Kh9MbO
In this regard, the Tunisia Summit in 2019 issued the "Arab Charter of Ethics of Science and Technology in the Arab Region". Moreover, this Summit approved the guidance of this Charter and the publication of its principles to all research entities in the Arab region. The foregoing is within the framework of enhancing joint Arab action in science and technology; due to the necessity for developing a framework that properly guides science and technology away from unethical practices.
The full text: https://bit.ly/3tCx5Y2
Learn about Arab laws related to intellectual property:
http://www.leagueofarabstates.net/en/intellectualproperty/Pages/arabIPlaws.aspx
