Abu-Ghazaleh Discusses E-crimes Related to IPRs

The event tackled issues related to Intellectual Property Rights and e-crimes

KUWAIT --- March 25, 2009 --- Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, president of the Arab Society for Intellectual Property (ASIP), spoke at the ?Intellectual Property (IP) and E-Crimes: Dispute Resolution Methods? Conference organized by the Kuwaiti Bar Association?s IP Protection Committee on March 25, 2009 at the Association?s headquarters in Kuwait.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh discussed technical and legal solutions, e-crimes related to Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), practical methods to fight this phenomenon, international and regional efforts to encounter piracy according to the international agreements; in addition, he highlighted ASIP?s endeavors and presented a number of recommendations in this respect.

? E-crimes have become a major challenge for the global economy where the world witnesses one crime every three minutes on the Internet; in addition, the electronic piracy?s rates have been the highest in four years causing the loss of US$ 48 billion according to a study by the Business Software Alliance,? Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.

The event also tackled issues related to e-crimes cases and the Internet, hacking and the legal utilization of the software programs in addition to the appropriate technical and legal methods to deal with e-piracy challenges.

In addition, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh pointed out the necessary measures that should be taken to protect Intellectual Property mainly by registering trademarks and patents available on the website, and registering the domain name in countries that allow such registration.

He also explained the scientific means to curb electronic piracy crimes and the international efforts to fight such international acts mentioned in several agreements such as the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) among others.

In respect of the Arab efforts in this field, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh revealed the regional efforts in this domain including an Arab law for combating e-crimes, forming an Arab organization to combat IT crimes and the Arab agreement to combat electronic crimes in addition to other endeavors.

Moreover, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh shed light on ASIP?s initiatives in capacity building and spreading awareness such as preparing a special guide for judges and establishing a committee of experts in the field of copyrights in order to set up a unified Arab law in the field of copyrights.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh recommended establishing an Arab organization to coordinate efforts in battling e-crimes through the Internet and encouraging the formation of Arab unions to encounter Internet crimes.

Speakers included lawyers and legal councilors from public and private sectors, judges specialized in the field of commercial dispute resolution, high ranking officials from the Customs Department, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Information, the University of Kuwait and the Economic Department at the American Embassy in Kuwait.

Year after year, Kuwait has been demonstrating its commitment to effectively protect Intellectual Property Rights and is considered one of the first countries in the region to promote the need to enhance anti-piracy awareness concepts.

As a result of its firm actions against piracy, the average piracy rate has dropped in the recent years and software developers are increasingly gaining trust in the country.

According to the recent survey conducted by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) in 2008, Kuwait piracy rate dropped by at least 10 percentage points; which was estimated to result in adding around $350 million to Kuwait?s national economy, including $219 million in local revenues and $1 million in taxes.

The increasing efforts of the Kuwaiti government are expected to lead to a gradual decrease in the use and trade of pirated software in the country.

The Kuwait Bar Association is responsible for issuing legislations relating to the lawyers practices in Kuwait. It is a member of the Arab Lawyers Federation.