Dubai Customs yesterday celebrated the World Intellectual Property Day. The festivity was attended by HE Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, representatives from government departments and entities, strategic partners from the private and public sectors, along with the winning schools of the Dubai Customs IP Awards competition.
HE Ahmed Mahboob said: ” Dubai Customs pays utmost attention to IPR, in keeping with its commitment to protect the society and support national economy. Dubai Customs contributes effectively to creating the right environment for the local trade and investment by combating piracy, counterfeiting and commercial fraud, in an effort to ensure producers and creators’ rights are preserved as well as protecting consumers from the perils of fake and copied goods”.
He further noted that Dubai Customs saw remarkable milestones while carrying out its mission to foil smuggling bids of IPR infringing commodities. At the top of which is making 951 seizures of IPR infringing goods in the last three years (2011-2013), covering a spectrum of 23.5 items, with a value of AED 65.3 million.
On the other hand, Mr Yousuf Ozair, IPR Director at Dubai Customs, said: ”The celebration of World Intellectual Property Day 2014 is held under the theme “Movies: A Global Passion” to reflect the international concern over protecting the filmmaking industry from piracy.”
Mr. Ozair remarked that “In the first quarter of 2014, DC managed to make 65 seizures of IPR infringing goods, including nearly 4.4 million items valued at AED 6.7 million, compared to 59 seizures of similar goods totalling AED 2.4 million in the first quarter of 2013.”
The IPR Director at DC added: “We have placed particular emphasis on educating the public through various awareness activities that addressed all community segments. In 2013, we exerted extensive efforts in the area of awareness dissemination; as we hosted 4 IPR workshops with the participation of 110 experts and specialists. Awareness lectures were held at 11 schools, targeting 110,500 students. A total of 10 awareness lectures on the fundamentals of Customs were delivered to 226 employees. DC continues to organise its annual IP Awards for schools and universities, with the aim of educating upcoming generations on the risks of counterfeit products.”
The Director of Dubai Customs presented the 8th DC IPR Awards to a number of schools that won the competition, namely Salma Bint Qais School, Al Hikma Private School and Al Khalidya Elementary School. Moreover, Maria Al Qibtiah Secondary School, Dubai Secondary School, Mohammad Bin Rashid Model School, Sukaina Bint Al Hussein School and Al Salam Elementary School all received special honoring for the distinguished projects presented by their students as part of their participation in the contest.
HE Ahmed Mahboob also presented recognition awards to DC’s IPR government strategic partners. He particularly commemorated the initiator of Intellectual Property at the National Media Council Mr. Juma Obaid Al Leem, the best IPR Inspector at the National Media Council Mr. Mohammad Rashid Al Khayal, the founder of Intellectual Property at Dubai Chamber Mr. Ahmed Ali Saleh, the initiator of Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Economy Ms. Fatima Al Hosani, and the founder of Intellectual Property at the Federal Customs Authority Mr. Majid Obaid Al Suwaidi. Law firms that made notable efforts in respect of IPR were also presented with recognition awards. The honorees in this category included Bayt Al Hikma Legal Consultancy, Saba & Co. for Intellectual Property and LVMH Fashion Group.