The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has carried out surprise inspection campaigns targeting food shops in the Muaither area to monitor the compliance of retail outlets with intellectual property rights laws and regulations.
The inspection campaign resulted in the imposition of a fine on a shop for importing and distributing counterfeit canned fruit juices of various kinds bearing the mark of an original ‘National Product’ brand contrary to the provisions of Law No 9 of 2002 regarding trademarks, commercial records, geographic indicators, designs and industrial models, the MEC said in a statement yesterday.
These ongoing inspection campaigns come within the framework of the MEC’s efforts to monitor markets and commercial activities as part of an integrated plan covering all retail outlets across the country, the statement notes. The campaigns are aimed at cracking down on counterfeit products and commodities in order to protect intellectual property rights and curb the proliferation of counterfeit goods in the local market.
The MEC has stressed that it will not tolerate any violations of intellectual property rights laws and will refer those who violate laws and ministerial decrees to the competent authorities, who will in turn take appropriate legal action.
The ministry has urged all consumers to report violations of intellectual property rights through email: [email protected], and MEC accounts on social networks: Twitter - MEC_QATAR and Instagram - MEC_QATAR.
