Brand Owners' Protection Group (BPG) receives support from local and global government bodies

This was conveyed to the BPG during "The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Sub-Regional Workshop on the Implementation of Intellectual Property Rights" organized by WIPO and the French National Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) in cooperation with the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) and Dubai Customs in Dubai recently.

The participants, in addition to the members of the BPG GCC & Yemen, also included officials representing authorities from Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Interpol, The French Union of Manufacturers, the French Syndicate of Pharmaceutical Companies, The Delegation of the European Commission in Riyadh, brand owners, legal firms, and BPG Lebanon.

In her welcome speech at the seminar, the French Minister for External Trade Her Excellency Mrs. Christine Lagarde said:

"Counterfeit products amount to nearly 10% of the total worldwide trade and six people die every 15 minutes because of counterfeited drugs, especially malaria drugs in Africa. Moreover, 30,000 jobs are lost annually in France because of counterfeiting,"

"Local stakeholders need to cooperate and join collective efforts in order to support each others in any anti-counterfeit campaign to actively initiate measures that will ensure consumers receive only the legally manufactured products through appropriate channels. This will also guarantee revenue to the national treasuries is not affected by losses through tax evasion," said the French Minister.

Mrs. Lagarde, and Mr. Gérard Schoen, Deputy Director of Legal Affairs, who is responsible for anti-fraud department at the French Customs Authority, later conferred with Mr. Omar Shteiwi, Chairman of the Board of the BPG and Regional Intellectual Property Advisor, Nestle Middle East, on the issues related to protection of intellectual property rights. During the course of the conversation Mrs. Lagarde confirmed her keenness to support a non-profit organization such as the BPG.

Mr. Ahmed Butti, Director-General of Dubai Customs, said: "The Dubai Government is keen to tackle issues related to the protection of IP rights and fight the counterfeit menace. We are eager to support any private sector initiative in this regard."

Moreover, during the crucial meeting in Dubai two BPG members - Al-Tamimi & Co. and Rouse & Co International gave presentations on "The cooperation between the private sector and the government in the fields of IP rights" and "The IP Laws and repressive Actions in Saudi, Kuwait and the UAE."

Mr. Shteiwi said: "The seminar showcased how the private sector, world organizations and local authorities can interact and cooperate to combat illicit trade in general and counterfeiting in particular. With the coming together of all these organizations, we are optimistic we can move forward swiftly to tackle the illicit trade and counterfeiting issues more effectively."

In her presentation to the dignitaries on behalf of the BPG GCC & Yemen, Mrs. Hoda Barakat, BPG Board Member and Chairperson for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia Sub-Committee of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and Anti-Counterfeiting and Enforcement Committee (ACEC), said: "Violations, illicit trade, counterfeits and infringements are daily challenges for the manufacturing industry which attack the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the brand owners, endangering the health and safety of our consumers causing immense losses to the national treasuries."

"We are confident that with the support of government bodies, BPG will be able to defend the integrity of our members by seeking the enforcement of existing Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) namely copyright, patent, trademarks & designs protection, and licensing laws," said Mrs. Barakat.

"BPG is hopeful consumers throughout the region will be pleased to learn such cooperative measures between the government organizations and the private sector will ensure that only genuine products are available in the market,". Mr. Shteiwi concluded.