Dubai Customs dealt with 272 intellectual property disputes in 2018, with a market value of Dh52 million, according to latest figures released by the Government Department. Out of these, 237 products turned out to be genuine with a Dh44.6 million market value, and 35 counterfeit ones with a market value of Dh7.4 million. This takes the genuine products dispute cases up to 87% of the total percentage. Around 18 million counterfeit items for 19 trademarks were recycled.
In the first 9 months of 2019, there were 243 IP disputes, with Dh 39.2 market value; 196 turned out to be genuine products with Dh 24.7 million and 38 fake ones with Dh14.5 million. A total of 48,000 fake items for 45 trademarks were recycled.
As a procedure, trademark owners are informed once fake items holding the name of their brands are seized in order to physically attend the recycling. The IPR Department at Dubai Customs leads the way in seizing counterfeit goods and protecting brands from any IP violations. It’s the first of its kind department in the middle east and plays a significant role in enforcing federal laws related to intellectual property and securing the emirate’s borders from the hazards of counterfeit goods.
Commenting on the figures, Yousef Ozair Mubarak, Director of IPR Department said:
“The IPR Department is an independent unit at Dubai Customs that works to ensure no violations take place in the intellectual property field in line with the international agreements and treaties including the WTO's intellectual property (TRIPS) agreement. So far, we have registered 3,910 trademarks and 692 trade agencies and keep feeding our database with the latest data. In the first 9 months of 2019, we registered 501 trademarks and 109 trade agencies.”
Dubai Customs has helped brand owners recycle millions of counterfeit items to reduce the harmful impact on the environment of the illegal fake goods trade.
"Perhaps intellectual property rights-holders are most likely to feel the pinch of this rogue industry, but everyone is liable to be affected by counterfeiting and piracy. We work together with brand owners to protect their rights and help them access local and international market without this unfair competition from the fake products. To this end, we raise awareness and organize different workshops and trainings to update our inspectors with the latest techniques used in counterfeiting products " said Yousef Ozair Mubarak.