Sultanate, WIPO sign technical cooperation plan to help SMES
MUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the Public Authority for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (Riyada), signed a technical cooperation programme with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to enable SMES to innovate and find products and services that are protected by intellectual property.
Dr Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Riyada, and Francis Gurry, Director-general of WIPO, signed the agreement on Tuesday. This came during a meeting between the Minister of Commerce and Industry and the Director-general of WIPO and the accompanying delegation.
The meeting discussed the cooperation between the two sides, reviewed the national innovation strategy prepared with The Research Council (TRC), and the possibility of cooperation to protect the intellectual property rights of the Advanced Research Centre, factory for Manufacturing and Designing of Molds and Production Tools which are being set up by the government in collaboration with Sohar University, as part of the inputs of the National Innovation Strategy and the outcomes of the manufacturing sector produced by the Tanfeedh (National Programme for Enhancing Economic Diversification).
The two sides reviewed opportunities to benefit from the services of WIPO on Mars Living Simulation Project, which was implemented in the Sultanate in cooperation with the Austrian Space Forum. The two sides discussed enhancing technical cooperation in the field of innovation and assigning experts to enhance the government’s efforts in the field of innovation support. The competencies of the Intellectual Property Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry were increased by increasing the number of intellectual property examiners and experts. The meeting was attended by Ahmed bin Hassan al Dheeb, Under-secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and a number of officials from both sides.
During his visit to the Sultanate, Gurry and his delegation will meet with a number of officials from the Sultanate, representatives of the National Business Centre and the Industrial Innovation Centre, as well as a number of innovative incubators in the Sultanate, such as SAS and OM.HUB incubators, and will meet students.
The number of applications for national and international trademarks, patents, copyrights and industrial designs reached 31,043 applications in 2017, 30,410 applications of them for national and international trademarks in “registration, renewal, transfer and licensing of use, modification and publicity”, 391 patent applications, 3,232 applications for international trademarks, 216 copyright applications and 26 industrial designs.