Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ziyad Al-Najim affirmed on Monday Kuwait’s keenness to support Kuwaiti inventors, innovators and intellectuals regionally and internationally. In the opening speech of the Intellectual Property Offices Forum, organized by the ministry on the World Intellectual Property Day April 26, Al-Najim said that intellectual property is a continuous course that does not stop at a certain phase, and it’s necessary to embrace its pioneers and contribute to its development and sustainability.

Al-Najim added that he stands side by side with state institutions to guarantee the rights of inventors and enlighten society about the importance of protecting intellectual property, as modern inventions are what favor one society over another. For his part, the Trademarks and Patents Supervisor at the ministry Rashid Al-Owaihan said in his speech that since the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution and the continuation of scientific and technological progress, there have been tremendous economic changes and countries’ trade exchanges increased. Countries then began to pay attention to enacting laws that regulate intellectual property rights, both industrial property and literary and artistic property, he explained, and the need for industrialized countries to protect industrial intellectual property rights on an international scale.

He stated that the first international agreement that was concluded was the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property signed in 1883, and three years later the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works was concluded. Al-Owaihan explained that Kuwait has several international agreements including the TRIPS in 1994, WIPO in 1998, Paris in 2014, and the International Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2016.

He stressed the importance of these agreements and treaties, as they are a joint effort to protect the intellectual property of patent owners and thus create a single, large market that includes global markets. He explained that intellectual property has two parts, the first is related to literary property, which is copyright, and related rights (literary and artistic rights), and the second relates to industrial property rights and is divided into three branches, trademarks, patent, and industrial models. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) celebrates World Intellectual Property Day annually on April 26 and this year’s slogan is (Intellectual Property and the Sustainable Development Goals) and it is an opportunity for the world to refl ect on the way in which intellectual property helps the global art scene to progress. (KUNA)

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