Dubai concludes World Intellectual Property Day with awareness and SME supportive events
Dubai Customs concluded its activities on the World Intellectual Property Day 2021 by organising an event in cooperation with Al Mawakeb School titled “Al Mawakeb Innovates2” in which the Department judged and evaluated creative projects introduced by the students.
The event, organised by the IPR Department, aims at encouraging creativity and appreciating genuineness.
Celebrating the World Intellectual Property Day is to emphasise the significance of creativity in developing the national economy. The UAE, in its year 50th and Golden Jubillee has always supported creative people and it boosts an outstanding record of protecting the intellectual property rights.
A jury from the IPR department, which included Saeed bin Faris, team leader, Khuloud Al Housani, awareness officer and representatives of DEWA, Dubai Health Authority, and Hamdan Innovation Incubator, judged the contest “Al Mawakeb Innovates 2”.
More than 26 projects were judged against certain standards including sustainability and creativity. Winners were announced and the projects included cubes for visually impaired people and the educational DNA game, etc.
This year, the World Intellectual Property Day shines a light on the critical role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the economy, and how these enterprises can use intellectual property (IP) rights to build stronger, more competitive and resilient businesses.
An educational film on protecting intellectual property was displayed which included a statement by Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs and a message by Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
The IPR Department has also organised a virtual IPR workshop number 65 which saw the participation of eight brand owners and the attendance of 46 Dubai Customs employees and inspectors. Another workshop focused on protecting intellectual property of SME entrepreneurs.
Dubai Customs honoured a number of entities on the day, and these included Omar bin Al Khattab School, 2nd December School, Al Mawakeb School (Al Khawaneej branch), Dubai University, American University in Dubai (AUD), Ajman University, Hamdan Innovation Incubator, the Mohammed bin Rashid Fund For SME, among others.
“This year, celebrating the World Intellectual Property Day gains more importance as we also celebrate the UAE Golden Jubilee and our long journey of protecting creative people and brand owners’ rights in the UAE,” said Yousef Ozair Mubarak, Director of IPR Department. “The wise leadership has incubated creativity and provided a positive and encouraging environment that support creative and gifted people, and at the same time protects the society from counterfeiting and any IP violations.”
Along the same line, Mahbooba Baqer, Head of Awareness and Education Section said; “Dubai Customs celebration on the World Intellectual Property Day included a number of activities that aimed at highlighting the role of protecting IPR in supporting SME and encouraging creativity. They also aimed at raising awareness around different methods of fighting counterfeiting and distinguishing fake goods from genuine ones to prevent their entry into the local market.”
WAM
