Yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry organized a celebration on the occasion of World Intellectual Property Day, under the slogan “Women and Intellectual Property: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity”, as part of its commitment to promoting dialogue on the importance of intellectual property and its role in developing an environment that encourages and stimulates innovation and creativity in society.
The event is organized to shed light on the state’s efforts in the field of intellectual property and the initiatives that have been launched to provide the necessary mechanisms to protect all creative women, whether they are inventors, authors, or products of technical, artistic or literary works. As well as motivating them to be creative and innovative, in a way that contributes to achieving the goals of the national vision aimed at making Qatar by 2030 an advanced country capable of achieving sustainable development and ensuring the continuation of a decent life for its people, generation after generation. Ms. Amna Jaber Al-Kuwari, Director of the Intellectual Property Rights Protection Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, stressed during her opening speech the importance of intellectual property rights and the need to support them and expand the knowledge base of these rights in the State of Qatar. She said that the large participation in the celebration reflects the interest of the commercial and industrial sectors in spreading awareness of these rights in order to preserve the creativity of young men and women, the change and development makers on whom we count to build a better future.
Empowering innovative women
Al-Kuwari stressed the role of intellectual property in empowering innovative women, pointing to the interest of decision-makers and public policy makers in the country in reviewing and updating intellectual property legislation in line with international practices.
She indicated that there are national efforts to develop a national strategy for intellectual property, which is the approach endorsed by the Qatar National Vision 2030 in terms of preparing national strategies and implementation plans that contribute to modernizing the institutional framework for intellectual property management through the creation of the Industrial Designs and Models Department and providing the department with young cadres and qualifying them to provide the best services to innovators. Qatari and foreign users of intellectual property assets.
Electronic services
She explained that, in line with the state’s approach to improving service delivery methods, work is being done to shift to providing management services electronically to facilitate the registration and preservation of rights from any kind of infringement. She also referred to awareness programs and spreading the culture of intellectual property, which also receives great attention in terms of implementing the largest number of these programs and targeted sectors, whether school or university students, the commercial and industrial sector, and the legal community.
And she indicated that what we are witnessing recently in the allocation of the Investment and Trade Court under Law No. 21 of 2021 to consider disputes related to patents, trademarks, industrial models, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights, is evidence of the great interest that the state attaches to these rights and the importance of speedy settlement of any dispute. arising out of these rights.
Panel discussions
The celebration witnessed the holding of panel discussions that shed light on a number of important topics, most notably the role of women in the creation of intellectual property and the encouragement of investment, the importance of intellectual property in various fields of life, as well as a discussion of the role of intellectual property in national efforts to empower innovative women for a better future, and the challenges and opportunities to improve The use of intellectual property systems by women, and the role of female inventors in diversifying the economy, in addition to presenting success stories of a number of Qatari women who are creators, inventors, and owners of copyright and related rights.
On the sidelines of the celebration, the accompanying exhibition was inaugurated, in which participants from various parties, including schools and authors, presented their inventions and innovations in various fields. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry honored female inventors and pioneers who participated in the exhibition accompanying the event, and the personalities participating in the panel discussions were also honored.
It is worth noting that the celebration of World Intellectual Property Day, which began for the first time in the year 2000, aims to spread and raise awareness of the culture of intellectual property, while this celebration aims to educate the public and encourage them to innovate, whether in the field of inventions, artistic and literary works, or other intellectual property fields. And giving them more information by experts and officials to encourage them to protect and preserve their creativity from infringement.
