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26 February 2020CopyrightSarah Morgan

Saudi IP office launches 21 support centres

The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) has inaugurated 21 IP support centres across five regions in the country, in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The centres—based in Makkah, Al-Madinah, the Eastern region, Al-Qassim and the capital, Riyadh—will facilitate access to scientific and technological information from Saudi Arabia’s national databases.

During the launch, the IP office signed agreements with King Abdulaziz University, Taibah University, Effat University, King Fahd Medical City, Saudi Health Council and I-be Company.

According to SAIP, the launch is an indication of the importance of IP as a “tool to promote intangible values and their impact on the global economy in general and the national economy in particular”.

Earlier this month, SAIP began to receive trademark applications after becoming the sole authority responsible for IP in the country. The Ministry of Trade and Investment was previously tasked with this responsibility.

At the time, the office said it was completing the work that has been done by the ministry by improving existing laws and joining international agreements, such as the Madrid Protocol, the Nice Agreement and the Vienna Agreement to move towards the vision of SAIP becoming a “pioneer of IP in the Middle East and North Africa region”.

And, late last year, the SAIP carried out an extensive inspection campaign to uncover shops that violated IP rights.

"The SAIP campaign is an extension of our periodic unscheduled inspection on public establishments and stores which circulate or deal with products that violate IP rights in any part of its operations,” said Yasser Al-Debassi, executive director of the IP rights protection department at SAIP.

“We are determined to establish the principles of respecting IP rights, and combating the infringement of these rights in the Kingdom."

Yesterday, WIPR reported that sports organisations including FIFA, UEFA and the National Football League have urged the US to keep Saudi Arabia on its priority watch list for IP infringement.

Last year, the office of the US Trade Representative cited concerns over piracy when listing Saudi Arabia on the priority watchlist of its annual ‘special 301’ review.

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25 February 2020   Sports organisations including FIFA, UEFA and the National Football League have urged the US to keep Saudi Arabia on its priority watch list for IP infringement.
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7 December 2018   Saudi Arabia has said the World Trade Organization (WTO) cannot resolve an IP dispute with Qatar due to national security concerns, according to Reuters.
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22 June 2020   The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property will block 231 websites that violate IP, preventing them from being accessed in the Kingdom, following a World Trade Organization report that criticised the country’s IP regime.