OMAN JOINS PARIS AND BERNE CONVENTIONS

His Majesty Sultan Qabus Ben Sae'ed promulgates a Sultanic Decree ratifying the acceding of the Sultanate of Oman to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

We Qabus Ben Sae'ed the Sultan of Oman, having perused the constitution issued by the Sultanic Decree No. 101/96; Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property dated March 20, 1883 A.D., reviewed in Stockholm on July 14, 1967 and amended on September 28, 1979, and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works dated September 9, 1886, reviewed in Paris on July 24, 1971 and amended on September 28, 1979; and pursuant to the public interests, we have ordained the following:

Article No. 1

Ratifying the acceding of the Sultanate of Oman to each of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Litrary and Artistic Works referred to herein above provided that the acceding document includes the provisions of para 2 of Article No. 28 of the first Convention and para 2 of Article No. 33 of the Second Convention.

Article No. 2

This Decree shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall be effective as from the date of its promulgation.

Issued on 28th, Jamad Al Awal, 1419 A. H.

Corresponding to September 19, 1998 A.D.

JORDAN: Registrar Extends Opposition Period of Official Gazette No. 202

The Registrar of trademarks in Jordan has extended the three-month opposition period for Official Gazette No. 202 dated July 1, 1998. The Deadline for filing an opposition - previously October 1, 1998 - is now November 1, 1998. The extension was due to problems resulting in a delay of the printing and distribution of the Gazette. For more information please contact our Jordan Office.

PALESTINE: Arabic Specification Label On Products

The Ministry of Economy & Trade demanded that the goods which are promoted and circulated in Palestine should bear product specification labels in Arabic.

The Director General of the Administration of Internal Trade at the Ministry of Economy & Trade pointed out that the ministry is striving to implement the label requirement on all local and imported goods for preserving the national economy and safeguarding the health of the Palestinians. He added that the administration issued a large number of labels to local and foreign firms especially those that obtained agency agreements for various imported goods.

The label must contain the following information in the Arabic language: product's name, method of storage, if necessary.

The ministry's decision affirmed that the information should be written in the Arabic language and in legible letters, easy to see and to read, and that no goods are brought in or circulated if they do not bear a warning issued by the competent authorities as in the case with cigarettes and inflammable materials.

AL AYYAM Newspaper, August 1998, Palestine SAUDI ARABIA Seizes 10,000 Counterfeit Watches

Members of the Quality Control Section at the Jeddah Branch of the Minister of Trade have seized about 10,000 counterfeit CITIZEN, ROLEX, SEIKO and Q & Q watches in response to a complaint filed on behalf of three companies by their attorney.

Immediately upon the receipt of the complaint, the Director General of Jeddah Branch of the Ministry took action in order to protect the consumers and the genuine owners of the trademarks and to implement provisions of the anti-fraud regulations.

The infringing trademarks were found on watches in 15 stores in a number of markets specialized in trading in watches. The store owners were referred to the commercial fraud cases committee in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. Counterfeit goods were confiscated and destroyed.

During the year the Ministry of Trade was able to seize more than 50,000 counterfeit watches in Jeddah markets and about 20,000 in Medinah and Mekka. This and the fear of penalties lead the promoters of counterfeit watches to divert their stock to the markets of Riyadh.

Al-Riyadh Newspaper, August 24,1998, Saudi Arabia

MOROCCO: WIPO Director General Official Visit

Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), paid an official visit to Morocco in July 1998. The purpose of the visit was to conduct discussions and to open the WIPO National Seminar on Licensing and Transfer of Technology.

The WIPO National Seminar on Licensing and Transfer of Technology, was held on July 13 and 14, 1998, as part of the WIPO Cooperation for Development Program. In the presence of 60 participants from academic, legal, and business circles, Dr. Idris underlined the pivotal role of the private sector in developing effective mechanisms to protect intellectual property rights. He stressed the need to harness the creativity of national investors and to optimize the benefits of technology transfer, saying that Morocco, with its vast cultural resources, cannot fail to benefit from a robust intellectual property system.

The Director General presented WIPO's 1998-99 Program and Budget and outlined the economic, social and cultural benefits that come from the protection of intellectual property rights both nationally and internationally. He also emphasized particular ways of strengthening the long-standing and fruitful cooperation between the Government of Morocco and WIPO.

Campaigns Targeting Stores Selling Computer Diskettes In BAHRAIN Having completed its successful campaign against audio-video cassettes stores, the Ministry for Council of Ministers Affairs and Information launched another phase targeting computer diskette stores.

Those stores were put on a list in preparation for disseminating awareness among them of the importance of complying with the copyright law and the prohibition of circulation and sale of unauthorised copies of programmes.

The Ministry spokesman went on to say that the number of stores came to around a hundred and that some inspection campaigns have already been made in those stores. Direct meetings with those in-charge of stores as well as their customers were held to bring to their attention the importance of adhering to the Copyright Protection Law.

Since the deadline for implementing the TRIPs Agreement is the beginning of the year 2000, Bahrain is trying to reduce the percentage of piracy in computer diskettes and audio-video cassettes to 25-30%, like in developed countries. Combating piracy will go on so as not to give chance to anybody to violate copyright protection. The TRIPs Agreement provides for adhering to all intellectual property laws including the copyright protection law.

During a meeting held between the Ministry for Council of Ministers Affairs and Information and the Software Producers Alliance, an ultimatum was issued to all computer software sales companies, showing that there will not be any leniency in implementing Bahraini intellectual property and copyright laws. Also, a detailed plan of action was approved for dealing with the sale of new computer hardware containing illegal software in their memories.

The illegal copying of software in state departments and large companies was also discussed, suggesting a new initiative for stopping illegal copying of software in banks, insurance companies, hotels and other commercial enterprises.

Akhbar Al-Khaleej Newspaper, August 21,1998, Bahrain

YEMEN Participates In WIPO Meeting In Geneva

YEMEN Hosts An Intellectual Property Seminar In Late September 1998 The Yemeni Deputy Minister of Culture flew to Geneva to head Yemen's delegation attending the 33rd of the Member Country General Assembly of WIPO which was held in Geneva between 7-15 September, 1998.

The Deputy Minister said that the agenda include discussing the WIPO Director General's report, financial policy, WIPO activities, extent of compliance with the WIPO principles of copyright protection.

The Minister pointed out that Yemen hosted an intellectual property seminar in which WIPO participated, between September 24-26, 1998. The seminar objectives were to shed light on all that relates to copyright, embodying the Ministry of Culture's role and State's programme in protecting the rights of authors and other intellectual creators.

Al-Thawra Newspaper, September 8, 1998, Yemen

NEXT ISSUE Q&A on Intellectual Property Laws & Practices in the Arab World in brief from our international office

Andorra

The expiry of the term provided by the Andorran Trade Marks Act to file new trademark applications in Andorra claiming a priority based on a REAL AND CONTINUED USE in the principality of Andorra prior to May 24, 1995 will expire next December 7, 1998.

After 7th December no prior use will be possible to be claimed. For claiming use, the date of first use mark in Andorra is needed, no evidence of use is required at the moment of filing the application unless a declaration is contested by a third party through a legal action.R

Madrid Protocol

The following states are currently members of the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement:

Belgium, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Bophuthatswana, Transkei and Venda

The Bophuthatswana, Transkei and Venda territories have lost their independent identity under the new South African regime since 1996.

Accordingly, separate registers have been set up in South Africa to deal with the filing of applications for extension of the existing trademark registrations. The owner of a trademark registration in any of the former homeland territories must apply by December 31, 1998 to extend that registration to the entire territory of South Africa, provided that there is no identical trademark registration or pending application in South Africa or in any other territory.

Tonga

The Intellectual Property Laws of Tonga are changing with the enactment of a new IP legislation. It is anticipated that introduction will occur in the period from October 1998 to January 1999. Proprietors of existing Tongan trademark registrations must re-register to ensure these rights are not lost. Proprietors will have 12 months from the effective implementation date of the new laws to act.

Protection Of Trademark (Mountain Dew) In JORDAN

The High Court of Justice issued on 2/7/1997 decision No. 2 in case No. 43/97 in which it emphazised that the Jordanian Trademarks law grants protection to famous trademarks, even though the trade mark is neither registered nor used in Jordan.This case was brought to the Court when a Jordanian company filed an application to register trademark (Mountain Dew) in respect of goods in class 32.

Accordingly, the American company PEPSICO, Inc., filed an opposition action against the registration of the trademark (Mountain Dew).

The American company depended upon the fact that its tardemark is well-known, yet the decision of the Trademark Registrar was to entitle the Jordanian company to register the trademark (Mountain Dew).

Not satisfied with the Registrar's decision, the American company appealed the decision and brought the case before the High Court of Justice. The High Court of Justice iterated that the decison of the Trademark Registrar was against the provisions of the law, since it appeared that the American company had used the trademark (Mountain Dew) in many countries and, therefore, this trademark became known to consumers.

In supporting its decision, the High Court of Justices found out that the trademark (Mountain Dew) is identical to the American company's trademark, whether in letters, wording, hearing, listening, spelling or purposes, and, all of these elements could make the Jordanian customer confused by believing that the two trademarks have the same reference and source.Likewise, the fame of the trademark gives it protection even if it is neither used nor registered.

The protection is not only for the trademark but also for the public who must neither be deceived nor be mislead into thinking that the goods are produced or belong to the defendant. Therefore, the reasons for the appeal apply to the Registrar's decision and the decision is contrary to the provisions of the Law, thereby, it must be quashed. The High Court of Justice decided to quash the decision.

KUWAIT's Free Trade Zone

The Director General of Kuwait Free Trade Zone (FTZ) announced that over 153 local and international companies have expressed desire to invest in the free trade zone since signing of the FTZ agreement on May 30 this year. The company has received, since June 1998, five hundred requests from potential investors inquiring about investment in the zone. So far, some 500,000 square meters have been booked by local and foreign companies.

Investment in the Free Trade Zone is highly feasible because it is the sole privately-managed one in the Arab world. There are approximately 600 free trade zones in the world - including 55 managed by the private sector.

Elaborating on privileges, investors will be relieved of bureaucratic complications as they will have to deal with only one authority, the FTZ administration, which was granted power by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to issue investment licences.
The state has pressed ahead with the plan to establish the zone in Al-Shuwaikh Port as part of a strategy aimed at minimizing dependence on the oil sector to secure national income.

New Law Gives BAHRAIN Businesses Option To Cancel Agency Contracts Bahrain traders could have their agencies cancelled by a special body set up under the amended Commercial Agencies Law, which has scrapped the sole agency system on branded goods.

The Commercial Agency Committee is empowered to terminate an agency agreement, upon the request of either the foreign principal or the local agent, and with or without the consent of the other party.

The five-member committee, which is set to begin work in September 1998, is also empowered to take up any other matter concerning agency contracts between foreign and local businesses.

The first meeting of the committee has been held to discuss the scope of work of the committee.

The committee will be ready to take up any issues or cases arising from commercial agency agreements between foreign principals and their Bahrain agents.

The aggrieved party may file an appeal with the Minister of Commerce within 15 days from the date of notification of the committee's resolution regarding termination of the agency agreement.

A ministerial decision will be taken within 30 days of the date of submission of the appeal. However, a lapse of this period without a response from the Minister, will mean the appeal has been rejected.

Amendments to the Commercial Agencies Law came into effect from April this year. The amendments allow a foreign principal to appoint more than one agent in Bahrain. The changes also eliminate payment of commission to a designated agent, if goods and spare parts are imported directly from the principal.

Raw materials for industry and transit goods and goods imported for personal use also no longer attract payment of commission to the agent. The agent is,however, entitled to commission if goods are imported, not from the principal, but from a third party. The commission in such cases, however, will not exceed five per cent, and the amount of commission payable will be determined by the Minister of Commerce on a case-by-case basis.

Bahrain Business Newspaper, August 1998, Bahrain

JORDAN Prepares For WTO Accession

A World Trade Organization (WTO) Unit was established at the Ministry of Industry andd Trade nearly one year ago. This Unit, fully staffed and active only last month, is designed to prepare for Jordan's accession to WTO and consequently for implementation.So far, the Unit has carried out fragmented activities by holding awareness and training programs. These programs will now be elevated to be produced on a national basis. Among the Unit's functions will be delegating tasks in consulting studies to specialized firms.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

OTHER OFFICES

Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Palestinian National Authority Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria The Sudan Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen