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The second speaker, Dr. Eid Abdel-Meguid, Director,
Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute, Egypt,
addressed the issues of Biodiversity and Biotechnology. He
indicated that states have sovereign rights over their own
biological resources and should enjoy a fair and equitable
sharing of the benefitsarising from the utilization of these
resources. He concluded that intellectual property
protection in Biotechnology is needed because innovation is
expensive to develop and cheap to produce.
On the second day, Mr. Hopperger, Head, Information and
Training Section, Trademarks, Industrial Designs and
Geographical Indications Department, WIPO, addressed the
issue of protection of Geographical Indications referring to
the Paris Convention, TRIPs and The Lisbon Agreement for
appellations of origins. He presented WIPO Guidelines for
the protection of Well–Known Trademarks. He also made a
comparison between the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid
Protocol for the International Registration of Trademarks,
prompting the countries to join the Protocol.
In
spite
In the following session, Mr. Paul Harris of Hammonds, U.K.,
explained the application of Exhaustion of IPR's in the
U.K., Europe and the U.S.A. He referred to Articles (2 & 3,
28 & 30) of the Treaty of Rome and quoted also art.7
Directive 89 / 104 / EEC in this respect. Mr. Samir Hamza of
Baker & McKenzie Law Firm Egypt, explained that exhaustion
of IPR's under the new Egyptian Law No. 82 / 2002 will
impact on parallel imports and pricing of goods because it
is applicable to patents, designs, trademarks and
copyrights. AEPPI strongly opposed extending such exhaustion
to copyrights.
The afternoon session was dedicated to enforcement issues.
Mr. Taubman addressed multilateral enforcement mechanisms.
Whereby, Ms. Ola Zahran,Counselor, Cooperation for
Development Bureau for Arab Countries, WIPO,focused on
alternative dispute resolution procedures and Dr. Hossam
Loutfi completed the picture with the Domain Name Dispute
Resolution according to WIPO procedures.
The closing session was highlightened by the presentation of
Dr. Fawzi El Rifai, President of the Academy of Scientific
Research (in charge of the Patent Office). He described
briefly the processing of patent applications at the
Egyptian Patent Office from paper work stream-line to
electronic filing system with an on-line demonstration. Dr.
El Rifai also announced that Egypt
has signed the PCT Agreement.
In their closing addresses, Mrs. Hoda A. Serageldine spoke
of the role of non-governmental organizations, media and
educational institutions in increasing awareness of the
importance of IPR's and Mr. Sherif Saadallah focused on the
role of WIPO in promoting IPR's in the developing countries.
He stressed the fact that developing countries should not
concentrate only on the subject of obligations imposed by
IPR's, they should aim to develop new technologies and reap
benefits from the IP system.
In this respect, AEPPI would like to thank WIPO for their
generous support as well as all the distinguished speakers,
chairpersons, reporters who accepted to participate in this
event. A special acknowledgment should go to the Members of
the Organizing Committee who dedicated a lot of their
professional time to prepare an attractive social program
for the participants which culminated with a full day visit
to the spectacular Library of Alexandria |
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2- |
Seminar on the New
Egyptian Intellectual Property Law and the Trips
This Seminar was held on July 8, 2003 and
featured the presentation of Dr. Hossam Badrawi,
member of the Egyptian National Assembly, who
participated in the issuance of the new
Intellectual Property Law, and Ambassador Gamal
Bayoumi from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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3- |
AIPPI Executive
Committee Meeting : |
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|
This meeting was
held in Lucerne, Switzerland, during the period
from October 25 to October 29, 2003. The
Egyptian delegation was represented by four
members who participated in all the activities
associated with this meeting. |
|
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Response to AIPPI
Questions : |
|
|
The Egyptian Group
responded, during 2003, to the following
questions:
Q174 Questionnaire on Jurisdiction and
Applicable Law
Q178 Questionnaire on Scope of Patent Protection
Q180 Questionnaire on Content and Relevance of
Industrial Applicability for Patentability
Q181 Questionnaire on Conditions for
Registration and Scope of Protection of
Non-Conventional Trademarks
Q182 Questionnaire on Database Protection at
National & International Level
Q183 Questionnaire on Employers' Rights to
Intellectual Property
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5- |
General Assemblies : |
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|
There were two
general assemblies held during 2003, one
Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) and the other an
Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).
The OGM elected the current board of directors
for a term of two years and the EGM normalized
the legal status of AEPPI based on the new law
for associations issued in 2002
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|
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Meetings with
Egyptian Officials : |
|
|
The AEPPI board
members met with numerous government officials
and presented several memos that highlight the
interest of its members, including comments for
overcoming the problems encountered in dealing
with both the Trademark Office and the Patent
Office in Cairo. |
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