The ceremony which took place at the Royal Mirage Hotel was attended by a number of officials from ministries and government departments and representatives of diplomatic mission and embassies. They were welcomed by HE Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and Director General of Dubai Customs, in the inaugural speech.
Mr. Ahmed Butti expressed Dubai Customs’ gratitude to the Brand Owner’s Protection Group (BPG) and CISCO Systems Inc. for their support and collaboration in organizing the ceremony, which is considered a key event celebrated by the Department annually and is a valuable opportunity to communicate with strategic partners from the public and private sectors on a national as well as international scopes with respect to IP rights and preserving them against counterfeit and piracy.
He stressed the significance of this year’s theme, launched by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), “Innovation, preserving it, inciting it and protecting it are vital to the advancement of all life aspects”. He said.
Dubai Customs is very serious towards maintaining producers and brand owners’ rights and makes every efforts possible in cooperation with all the strategic partners in the private and public sectors; locally and internationally to perform this task. Such efforts are in line with our own slogan in the field of protecting intellectual property; “Together for a better protection”. Realizing this goal, Dubai Customs managed to sign a number of bilateral cooperation agreements which integrate the general strategy of the UAE towards society protection in the Emirates such as those made with Abu Dhabi Customs and BPG.
Mr. Butti announced that the number IPR infringement cases that were completed by Dubai Customs in 2011 reached 501 cases, with total seized goods of AED 40 million worth as compared to 689 cases with a value of AED 31 million in 2010. At the same time, the number of brands registered at the IPR Department at Dubai Customs increased to 400 brands as opposed to 182 brands in 2010. This reflects the manufactures’ recognition to the Department’s efforts in preserving their rights, investments and returns.
“Dubai Customs does not only combat smuggling bids of counterfeited goods, it is also keen on raising the entire community’s awareness about IPR including the different segments in society, school, universities, its employees and inspectors and the employees of the respective local and GCC ministries, departments and authorities through different workshops and training sessions. It is worth mentioning that these efforts come as part of the efforts made to meet the international standards and implement the recommendations of Dubai Declaration which was issued during the fourth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy hosted by Dubai Customs in February 2008 in cooperation with WIPO, WCO and Interpol.” He added.
Mr. Yousef Ozair Mubarak, Senior Manager of IPR Department at Dubai Customs delivered the WIPO speech in which he stressed the importance of encouraging innovators and providing a suitable environment for them. He highlighted some of those who had significant contributions on people’s lives, scientifically, medically, literary and intellectually throughout history.
Afterwards, Mrs. Hamida Sulaiman Al Jabri, Head of Regional Office for Capacity Building in North Africa and Far & Middle East, Head of International Agreements and Intellectual Property Section at Abu Dhabi Customs made a speech and demonstrated the efforts exerted by Abu Dhabi Customs in the area of combating counterfeit and piracy and protecting the borders against trademarks infringement attempts.
During the ceremony, a documentary film was displayed about the most significant Arab creators and innovators who influenced the different scientific, literary and technical aspects of life, such as Abbas Bin Firnas, Hasan Bin Al Haitham, Jaber Bin Hayyan, Abu Al Hasan Bin Al Nafees, Ahmed Bin Majid and Ahmed Zuwail.
The ceremony also comprised innovative entertainment segment organized by Cisco Systems Inc.
At the end of the ceremony, H.E Ahmed Butti accompanied by Mr. Yousef Mubarak awarded Dubai Customs partners in the field of IPR including law firms, the most cooperative government authorities with the IPR Department at Dubai Customs (i.e. the Forensic Laboratory at Dubai Police and the Ministry of Education) as well as BPG and Cisco Systems.
Moreover, a number of schools and universities as well as the “Little Inventor”; Adeeb Al Bloushi were honored during the ceremony for winning the Dubai Customs IPR Award.
Furthermore, Dubai Customs celebrated World IP Day earlier this year by organizing workshop No 17 which addressed IPR-related issues. The workshop took place from April 22nd- 25th, 2012 with the participation of local and GCC customs inspectors and a number of government employees from the respective ministries and departments. Trademark official personnel from different international companies specialized in numerous domains such as automobiles, foodstuff, electronics, clothes, cosmetics and law lectured during the workshop.