Ms. Maha Bekheit has raised an important question. Why has Research and Development leading to Innovation in the Arab World not progressed?? She answered the question by stating the reasons to the following:-

a)    The poor structure of the educational process.
b)    The humble amounts of funds that are allocated for a research and development.
c)    The small number of research innovators.
d)    The modest number of innovations compared to the rest of the world.

Ms. Maha Bekheit addressed the endeavors of the Arab League to promote real co-operation between the different Arab Governments in order to enhance innovation. She also stressed on the need to have a National scheme of Scientific Research in each Arab country including the establishment of IP bureaus in different universities.

In closing she has stressed that although the situation of the Scientific Research and Development is not at its best in the Arab World. However, there are several attempts to enhance and encourage innovation such as Mubarak city for Scientific Research in Egypt; King Abdel Aziz Institute for Innovation in Saudi Arabia; King Abdullah fund in Jordon; the Qatar Institute for Education and Science which all reflect the wish of the different Arab Countries to gain a strong hold in this race.

The second speaker started by an overview of the Pharmaceutical (Drugs) Market in the Arab World and that the Pharmaceutical Industry in the Arab region is limited to generic medicines which covers 17% of the local market needs while 70% are imported. She then stressed on the importance of the Arab Governments encouraging and supporting this vital industry. However, the current situation reflects the low spending on the pharmaceutical industries and its research centers. This also requires that the Governments and the Private Sectors increase their spending to encourage innovations according to a set strategy. She further requested that the flow of information be available to researchers. She then touched on the Patent System and the Patent Information System in the Arab World and pointed out that such system had different loopholes that needed to be corrected.
 

Mr. Amr Abdel Aziz, in his speech, emphasized that he always recommends that small and medium enterprises obtain elgal advice regarding the enforcement of intellectual property rights in order to save non-essential expenses, without access to a successful outcome, as this is a burden for these companies.

It is preferable to resort to arbitration or mediation. Arbitration procedures are less cumbersome than those of litigation in addition to the issue of enforcement on an international level.

There is a center for arbitration and mediation in WIPO which is part of the basic structure of WIPO. This Center specializes in intellectual property disputes, especially those over the domain names on the internet. The Center provides services free of charge but it requires that the parties to the dispute agree to have recourse to the Center.

The responsibility is on the right-holder to prove infringement; the intruder should be punished in order to accomplish protection.

There are some countries that have courts specialized in intellectual property disputes such as in Egypt and the Sudan.