In September 1998, the Bahraini Ministry of Trade, in cooperation with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), organised a workshop at the Holiday Inn on how to make use of the WTO website. The workshop was attended by more than 40 participants from the private and public sectors.
Mr. Abdul-Razak Al-Abdein, Director of the Commercial Foreign Relations Administration of the Ministry of Trade, stated in his inaugural speech that this would be the first in a series of workshops organized by the Ministry to acquaint participants with the various trade agreements. In the upcoming six months the Ministry will organize three more workshops on custom's evaluations, technical barriers before trade, and the Uruguay Round Agreements.
Among the speakers were two experts of the WTO Secretariat, Mr. Gene J.Carrier and Mr. Sharif Abdul-Fatah, who explained the advantages of the agreements and how member countries would benefit.
GULF NEWS Newspaper, Sebtember 23,1998, Bahrain
Copyright Law Amended in JORDAN
Jordan's amended Copyright Law entitled the "Law Amending Copyright Protection Law," was published on October 1, 1998 as Law No. 14 for the Year 1998.
While the complete translation of the law is featured in the ABLE section (see Legal Angle pages 4 and 5), its highlights are noted below:
Protection is now granted to additional literary and artistic collections such as encyclopedias, anthologies and data compilations, whether in machine-readable form or any other form, which constitute, in terms of their selection and arrangement of material, creative intellectual works.
( Article 3).
*Upon obtaining an authorization from the Minister, any Jordanian citizen may translate any printed foreign work into Arabic after the elapse of three years from the date of the first publication.
( Article 5)
A performer shall have the right to prevent third parties from fixing his/her unfixed performance and from reproducing any fixation of his/her performance or to broadcast the same to the public without his/her consent.
(Article 7
*The protection period for performers and producers of phonograms is fifty years
( Article 7)The protection period for broadcasting programs broadcast by any radio or television commission is twenty years
( Article 7 D)Non-filing of the work of art will not affect the rights of the author
(Article 13)
*The government has provided greater enforcement procedures as per Articles 11, 12 and 15.
Patent Filing with the GCC Patent Office
The Director of the GCC Patent Office, Mr. Yousef Shehab Al-Bahr, announced that the official inauguration of the office took place at the Headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 18, 1998 under the sponsorship of the Secretary General of the GCC, Mr. Jameel Al-Hujielan.
Mr. Al-Bahr added that the office started receiving patent applications on October 3, 1998 from inventors and their agents from all the GCC countries, and that a granted patent will protect the inventor against infringement in all the GCC countries. He went on to say that the office sent the prescribed forms on both paper and floppy diskettes to all those who had requested such forms.
Mr. Al-Bahr called on all applicants to prepare the necessary enclosures, especially an accurate Arabic translation, to avoid delay in processing applications. In its 13th session the Higher Council of the GCC countries had approved establishing a Patent Office to encourage investment of ideas in productive fields and invigorating the market with new products.
The inauguration and deposit procedures come in the context of world economic developments, foremost among which is establishment of the WTO, which will implement the GATT Agreement in more than 160 countries.
IP Seminar in JORDAN
A 3-day National WIPO Seminar on Intellectual Property, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry was held last october at the Radisson Sas Hotel in Amman,Jordan.
At the Seminar, the Chairman of the Arab Society for the Protection of Intellectual Property, Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, reviewed future programs in the field of intellectual property in the Arab countries. Also among the speakers was Mr. Shahed Ali Khan, Ex-Deputy Director General of the WIPO, Mr. Paul Solomon, Head Consultant of WIPO Offices in New York Mrs. Huda Barakat gave a lecture on implementing industrial property and copyright under the TRIPs Agreement.
The seminar also discussed effects of the TRIPs Agreement on the industrial property and copyright legislations in the developing countries and Jordan as a practical case. Establishing an infrastructure to implement intellectual property rights in Jordan,pharmaceuticals and the challenges and changes facing the pharmaceutical industry in Jordan, the legal framework for the technological transfer and intellectual property protection were among the major issues discussed.
Papers on the protection of trade secrets and know-how, WIPO activities relating to new issues in the field of intellectual property, legal aspects of electronic trade and WIPO, as well as current trends of folklore protection were also presented for discussion. Speakers included Mr. Mohamed Matalqua, Secretary General of the Jordanian Pharmaceutical Industries, Dr. Ibrahim Ahmad, International Law Professor of Ein Shams University in Egypt, Mr. Alastair Hurst from the UK and Mr. Mohamed Khuraisat from the Ministry of Industry and Trade
First Annual
"QUICK OFF THE MARK"
International Intellectual property Convention ***Sea Club Monte-Carlo,Principality of Monaco Monday 14 - Wednesday 16 December 1998
This December, the heads of many prominent national patent and trademark offices, along with senior officials of the European Commission will be meeting in Monte-Carlo to discuss the political and economic future of intellectual property. Notably, representatives of two new member states of the Treaty of Washington (PCT), India and South Africa, will be discussing the economic potential for international patents and industrial development as a consequence of their respective countries' adhesion to PCT.
On a lighter note, Mr. Jean Claude Combaldieu, President of the OHIM will be chairing a session on the commercialisation of famous names and events, notably Monte-Carlo and the world famous Monaco Grand Prix. Legal counsel from Philip Morris will be discussing the major infringement market which Marlboro, inherent partner of Formula One racing, faces at the races. In honour of the capital of fashion Mr. Daniel Hangard, General Director of the French Patent Office, will be analysing France's endeavours to protect their famous "haute couture" names, while Mr. Michel Rames, Intellectual Property Manager at Louis Vuitton, will be illustrating the cost per result in counterfeit import seizure. Our own representative, Dr. Fouad Boustany, will be reviewing the position in the Middle East, where infringement of the leading French fashion houses' trademarks is taking a thorough thrashing.
Similarly, Ms. Nancy Dababneh, head of the IP Law section of ABLE will be analysing the recurrent problems in this international oil exploitation contracts of the Middle East, along with Mr. Faisal Al-Bassam, Vice-President of Aramco and Mr. Kimbley Muller, Senior Legal Counsel of Shell Oil, Houston, Texas, during the session on merger strategies and the integration of intellectual property portfolios.
Dr. Yousef Nusseir, President of the National Information Centre, Jordan, will be presenting Jordan as the cyberspace model of the Middle East, while Stephen Chiang, Head of R & D at Computer Patent Annuities, Jersey, will be presenting MIPEX, the new electronic trading project of the European Commission, during the session on Multimedia Intellectual Property.
During the final session on biotechnology and genetic engineering, Dr.Mohammad Halaiqah, Secretary General of the Jordanian Ministry of Industry and Trade, will be discussing cooperation between Europe and the Middle East in the pharmaceutical industry. This convention, the first of its kind in the Principality, will not only deal with intellectual property in isolation, but will also tackle the fundamental problems of venture capital finance for innovation and international tax planning for the inventor in the session chaired by Mr.Norbert Haugg, President of the German Patent Office. For more information contact Natalie Elizabeth Jones at
"Quick off the Mark" Le Sardanapale, 2 Avenue Princesse Grace, Monte-Carlo, MC 98000 Principality Of Monaco Telephone: + 377 93 500 822 Telefax: + 377 93 500 82
Tunisia
Q & A On Intellectual Property Laws And Practices
q: Tunisia withdrew from the Madrid agreement in 1989. Can existing registrations be renewed upon expiry, or do new applications need to be filed locally? Registrations can be renewed by filing local renewal applications, thus securing prior registration time and ensuring the continuity of the protection of the trademarks for renewable 15-year terms, in brief from our international office
HONG KONG
December 27, 1998 is the FINAL deadline under the transitional provisions of the new Hong Kong Patents Ordinance of 1997. UK and EP (UK) applications that were published prior to June 27, 1997, and which were pending (i. e. not granted) on that date, may still form the basis of an application in Hong Kong, if filed in Hong Kong by December 1998.
The New Patents Ordnance in Hong Kong provides for the grant of a Standard Patent based on a patent granted by a Designated Patent Office. The Designated Patent Offices are the UK (for National, EPO or PCT derived patents). Once registered in Hong Kong, the Standard Patent will be independent of the base patent and will remain in force so long as renewal fees are paid in Hong Kong. Such patents will be capable of being enforced, rectified, rovoked or amended by the Courts in Hong Kong. UK and EP (UK) patents granted before June 27, 1997, had deadlines under the transitional provisions of no later than June 27, 1998 and therefore the time limit for extending these cases has now expired.R
BRAZIL
On July 14, 1998, the President of the Intellectual Property Institute (Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Intelectual - INPI) signed Resolution 58, establishing the procedures for the registration of computer software with INPI. This comes in an attempt to guarantee the copyrights to the software. Resolution 58/98, together with Law 9609 of February 19, 1998, set forth the regulations for the protection of software copyrights in Brazil.
JAPAN
A new design law will come into force on January 1, 1999:
- - to introduce a new system for the encouragement of more creative competitiveness and for the protection of higher level industrial designs.
- - to introduce a new system suitable for the globalization of economicactivities.
- - to introduce a new system under which an applicant can obtain a broader scope of protection of a design right by a simple procedure.
- - to introduce a new system to realize early protection of new designs.
JORDAN's Amended Copyright Protection Law
We, Al- Hasan Ben Talal, the Viceroy of His Majesty, pursuant to Article 31 of the Constitution and the resolution of the Houses of Lords and Representatives, hereby ratify this law and order to promulgate it and to add it to the Laws of the State.
Law No. 14 for the Year 1998
The Law Amending The Copyright Protection Law
Article 1
This law shall be called the "Law Amending The Copyright Protection Law for the Year 1998" and shall be read in conjunction with Law No. 22 for the Year 1992 referred to hereinafter as the original law as one Law. It shall become enforceable as of the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
Article 2
Article 2 of the original law shall be amended as follows:
- First: Adding the following definition to the word "Ministry" before the definition of the "Minister" mentioned therein: The Ministry: The Ministry of Culture.
- Second: Adding the following definition to the word "fixation" after the definition of the word "Filing" mentioned therein.
- Fixation: Putting the work in any permanent material form.
- Third: Cancelling the definition of the word the "Centre" mentioned therein and replacing it by the following definition:The Centre: The filing centre of the National Library Department or any other government department accredited by the Minister.
Article 3
Article 3 of the original law shall be amended by adding paragraph D with the following wording:
D) Protection shall also be granted to other literary and artistic collections such as encyclopedias, anthologies and data compilations whether in machine-readable form or any other form, which constitute, in terms of their selection and arrangement of material, creative intellectual works. Protection shall likewise be granted to collections containing selected pieces of poetry, prose, music or suchlike provided that the sources and authors of such pieces are mentioned in those collections and without prejudice to the authors' rights with regard to each of the works which constitutes part of the said collections.
Article 4
The text of paragraph C of Article 5 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text: C)The authors of encyclopedias, selections, data compilations and collections, which are protected under the provisions of this law.
Article 5
The text of Article 11 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
Article 11: Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 9 of this law.
- A-1) Upon obtaining an authorization from the Minister, any Jordanian citizen may translate any printed foreign work into Arabic after the elapse of three years from the date of the first publication of such work.
- A-2) The Minister, or any person delegated by the Minister, shall be entitled to issue a licence to any Jordanian citizen to reproduce any printed work after the elapse of three years of the publication dates of the works relating to technology and natural sciences including mathematics, after the elapse of seven years of the works of poetry, music, art and fiction as well after the elapse of five years for the other types of works.
- B) The licence for translation and reproduction provided for in paragraph (A) of this Article shall, be granted for meeting the educational purposes of schools and universities and for disseminating general culture.
- C) In the event a licence for translation or reproduction is issued, the author of the original work of art which has been translated or reproduced shall be entitled to receive an equitable remuneration from the applicant for a translation or reproduction licence.
Article 6
The text of paragraph A of Article 17 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
A) Presenting, displaying, reciting, acting or putting the work of art into rhythm, if it occurs in a family gathering or at educational, cultural or social institution. The musical bands of the state may play musical works provided that this does not generate any financial returns.
Article 7
The text of Article 23 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:Article 23 : Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 17 of this law:
- A-1) A performer shall have the right to prevent third parties from fixing his unfixed performance and from reproducing any fixation of his performance or to broadcast the same to the public without his consent.
- A-2) Radio and television commissions as well as the copyright holder shall have the right to prevent third parties from fixing unfixed broadcast programmes and from reproducing any fixation of those programmes or broadcasting the same to the public by wireless means without obtaining a permission from the commission concerned or the copyright holder, as the case may be.
- B) The producers of phonograms shall enjoy the right to authorize or prevent direct or indirect reproduction of their audio recordings and to leasing the original copies of the same.
- C) The protection period of the rights of performers and producers of phonograms shall be fifty years to be calculated as from the first of January of the calendar (Gregorian) year following the year in which the performance or the fixation of the phonogram, as the case may be, has taken place.
- D) The protection period for the broadcasting programmes broadcast by any radio or television commission shall be twenty years to be calculated as from the first of January of the calendar (Gregorian) year following the year in which the programme was broadcast for the first time.
Article 8
The text of Article 30 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
Article 30 : The protection period of the financial rights of the author provided for in this law shall be valid for the lifetime of the author and fifty years after his death or after the death of the last person remaining alive among the authors who took part in compiling the work, if they were more than one author.
Article 9
The text of Article 31 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
Article 31 : The protection period for the following works of art shall be valid for fifty years as of the date of publication:
- A) Cinematographic and televisional works. In the event such works were not published during the said period, then the protection period shall be calculated from the date of completing the work.
- B) Any work whose author or copyright holder is a corporate body.
- C) Any work of art which is published for the first time after the death of its author.
- D) Any work of art which does not bear the name of its author or which bears a pseudonym. However, where the author reveals his identity during the protection period, the protection period shall however commence from the date of the author's death.
Article 10
The text of Article 32 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
Article 32 : The protection period for the following works of art shall be valid for twenty-five years as of the date of the completion thereof:
- A) Photographic works which are not of copying nature and are limited to recording images mechanically.
- B) Works of applied arts.
Article 11
The text of Article 36 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
Article 36 :
- A) The employees of the Copyright Protection Office at the National Library Department who are commissioned by the Minister shall be regarded as judicial policemen when implementing the provisions of this law.
- B) In the event of any doubt that any of the provisions of this law were violated by any shop engaged in printing, reproducing, producing or distributing works of art, then the employees of the Copyright Protection Office may inspect the shop, seize the copies and all the materials used in committing that violation, and refer them together with the violators to the court. The Minister may ask the court to close down the shop.
Article 12
Article 38 of the original law shall be amended by adding the following phrase to its beginning: "Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 45 of this law".
Article 13
The text of Article 45 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
Article 45 : Non-filing of the work of art shall not affect the rights of the author provided for in this law.
Article 14
The text of Article 51 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
Article 51 :
- A) He shall be penalized by an imprisonment term of no less than three months and of no more than three years as well as a fine of no less than JD 1000 and of no more than JD's 10,000 or by one of those two penalties:
- 1) Whoever illegally exercises one of the privileges provided for in Articles 8, 9, 10 and 23 of this law.
- 2) Whoever offers for sale circulation or lease an imitated work of art or copies thereof, or communicates it to the public in any manner whatsoever, or imports it into the Kingdom or exports it abroad despite the fact that he knows that it is imitated.
- B) In the case of a repetition of any of the crimes provided for in paragraph of this Article, the perpetrator of the crime shall be penalized by the maximum of the imprisonment and fine penalties. In such a case, the court may decide to close down the establishment in which the crime was committed for a period of no more than one year or to suspend its licence for a certain period of time or for good.
Article 15
The text of Article 52 of the original law shall be canceled and replaced by the following text:
Whoever contravenes any of the provisions of Articles 38, 39, 41 and 42 of this law shall be penalized with a fine of no less than JD 500 and of no more than JD 1000. This penalty shall not exempt the offender from carrying out the provisions provided for in the said articles.
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