:::AEPPI:::

Seminar on the Draft Competition Law (April 15th, 2002)

This Draft Law which is still pending debate at the Parliament will have an impact on intellectual property protection by imposing restrictions on monopolies and anticompetitive behavior. The speakers were a Member of the Egyptian State Council and a Professor of Law at Cairo University. They highlighted all the major points of interest for our members.

Seminar on the Draft Law for Electronic Signature (June 4th, 2002)

TThis topic is very novel for our members particularly concerning the legal issues involved. The first speaker was an expert in IT engineering who is a Consultant at the Ministry of IT and Telecommunications, he explained the technical part of this Draft Law. The second was a lawyer who is an expert on Cyber crime and Infringements on the Internet. He also presented the Budapest Treaty of 2002 in relation to this subject matter.

General Assembly Meeting (June 4th, 2002)

TThis is a yearly event which has to follow the regulations governing the associations in Egypt with an activity report presented by the Board, the auditor's report on the past year expenses and the discussion of the projected budget for the following year. Then, finally the election of one-third of the Board Members.
After the completion of these procedures, the Board takes advantage of the presence of many members to circulate information about AIPPI Meetings and important developments in the International Agreements governed by WIPO or WTO.

The Egyptian Association has also been represented at many local seminars and conferences organized by the Egyptian Government and WIPO namely:-

- WIPO National Seminar on Intellectual Property Protection and the Pharmaceutical Industries (February 17 & 18)
- Trademarks protection under the New Code for the Intellectual Property Law No. 82/2002 organized by the Ministry of Trade in cooperation with SIPRE (Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights in Egypt) a project financed by the USAID.
At the International level, the Egyptian Association has also participated in AIPPI events. The AIPPI EXCO Meeting in Lisbon was attended by 5 persons from the Egyptian Group: The President, 2 Delegates, 1 Reporter and1 Observer who, incidentally, was an industrialist.
On the other hand, the Egyptian Association has replied to all the questionnaires sent by AIPPI Working and/or Special Committees. The Board establishes a few subcommittees to deal with each question and send the Group's report before the deadline.
- Working Questions for Lisbon Q167, Q168 and Q169.
- Comments on the WIPO Patent Agenda.
- Q170 (Questionnaire on the Substantive Patent Law Treaty).
- Q171 (Questionnaire for the Membership Committee).
- Q94 (Questionnaire on the Doha Declaration).
The same rule applies at the National level when the Egyptian Association has to send a memorandum to Government Officials in order to confront some important legal issues. For instance, the Association presented in August of 2002 a memorandum to the Minister of Trade to comment on the Draft Executive Regulations for Law No. 82/2002 for Intellectual Property Protection (Trademark issues). In September of 2002, another memorandum was sent to the President of the Academy of Scientific Research (supervisor of the Patent Office) in relation to the Draft Executive Regulations for Law No. 82/2002 (Patent issues).
In October of 2002, the Egyptian Association wrote a letter of complaint to the Minister of Trade on behalf of its members in order to overcome the problems that they encounter at the Trademark Office and the Commercial Registry.
Finally, In November of 2002, the Egyptian Association constituted an Organizing Committee of 8 Members to prepare an International Symposium in Egypt in April, 2003 in cooperation with WIPO and AIPPI. The Organizing Committee prepared an offer with the help of Thomas Cook and secured the approval of AIPPI and WIPO before launching an invitation for this International event in December 2002

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