Arab Open University workshop on intellectual property and its impact on the economy

Within the framework of its EU EuroMed@Change project, the Arab Open University organised a second workshop entitled “Intellectual Property and its Impact on the Economy”.  The event was organised at the Antelias campus for the purpose of stimulating and supporting creativity which will contribute to strengthening the national economy and in order to protect creators through raising awareness on the importance of intellectual property and the impact of this issue on the individual and society as well as its positive effect on the national economy and private sector.
The workshop included four components; in the first the lawyer Nisrine Haddad from Sader law firm gave a presentation about copyrights and confidential information and its impact on private companies.  As part of the second component, AOU business instructor, Dr. Saher Annan discussed how to mainstream intellectual property in corporate strategic planning.
The third component included a presentation by legal expert on intellectual property at the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Wissam Ameel, which focused on mechanisms for obtaining intellectual copyrights and registering trademarks and copyrights whilst Kawkab Sinno from Brand Protection Group underscored in the last component the importance of awareness raising within all strata in society and highlighted various issues of health risks associated with counterfeit medicines and food products as well as health hazards on consumers, companies and the states as a result of decrease in investments.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar, 30 January 2014