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Dubai: Anti-piracy, illicit trade and counterfeit issues and their risks to the local, regional and international economy and the enforcement of Intellectual Property rights will come under the spotlight at the first Arab Intellectual Property (IP) Forum.
The forum is being organised by the Ministry of Economy, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and Khasawneh & Associates-Legal Consultants, to be held in Abu Dhabi Tuesday and Wednesday.
Announcing their participation and support of the two-day event, which is held under the patronage of Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Economy, members of the Brand Owners Protection Group (BPG), a non-profit organisation set up to fight illegal replication of genuine goods will be among a list of high profile keynote speakers at the event.
The Chairman of the BPG and the Regional Intellectual Property Advisor for Nestle Middle East, Omar Shteiwi, said: "Counterfeiting and piracy activities are not only a violation of national and international laws and agreements that govern Intellectual Property Rights, but also have dire consequences on the economy and cause a direct loss to the countries Gross Domestic Production (GDP), losses in tax revenues and loss in employment opportunities."
"At the moment there are no accurate official estimates of counterfeiting in the UAE as the figures are held by different Law Enforcement Agencies. In addition, an exact figure of its impact on the world economy is difficult to gauge; yet economic consequences of piracy and counterfeiting are very obvious," added Shteiwi.
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