Kuwait to crack down on intellectual property theft

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is seeking to lift Kuwait’s international rating in combating intellectual rights’ crimes through bolstering cooperation with various states and specialized organizations, a ministry official said yesterday. Sheikh Nimer Al-Sabah, the assistant undersecretary for international organizations’ affairs and external trade, said in a statement a recent meeting that grouped Kuwaiti officials with specialists from the Arab states regional bureau of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) discussed “inauguration of the second phase for overhauling the intellectual property sector in the State of Kuwait.”

The meeting which involved officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry tackled technical aid that could be provided by the World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO) to the member states.

WIPO has recently set up a data base for the trademarks bureau, the patents and industrial samples at the ministry, he said, indicating that the organization is ready to take follow-up steps to overhaul the trade sector in tune with Kuwait’s international obligations.

Kuwait was among the first Arab states that had joined the WIPO. It officially signed the WIPO treaty in April 1998. Since then, it has adopted a series of international accords in the same sector. — KUNA