Intellectual Property Day celebrated

Qatar celebrated International Intellectual Property Day, which is marked this year under the theme “Reach for Gold: IP and Sports”.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in co-operation with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), yesterday organised several panel discussions on the theme of the event as well as an exhibition of various types of inventions.
Amna Jaber al-Kuwari, director, MoCI’s Intellectual Property Rights protection department, pointed out that the theme of the celebration is to highlight the importance of sport and the role of intellectual property in the field, and its contribution to motivating players to win and seek gold and excellence.
Al-Kuwari pointed out that most of the manual or electronic sports devices and equipment are protected by one or more intellectual property rights, which cover patents issued to medical equipment and devices.
She added the MoCI is keen to modernise its legislation and to adhere to the international treaties on the protection of the international rights as well as to protect the broadcasting rights of the beIN SPORTS group from the current violations internationally.
For his part, the senior adviser to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Dr Amir al-Jazairi, said that World Intellectual Property Day, which falls on April 26, aims to create a unique opportunity to understand the role of intellectual property in maintaining balance between competing interests, which embraces cultural innovation and creativity, as well as between the interests of the individual and the society, the interests of both the producer and the consumer, and the encouragement of innovation and the sharing of the benefits derived therefrom.
He pointed out that thanks to remarkable technological progress, millions of people around the world can now watch the game at the same time, which was not available in the past.
Al-Jazairi also discussed intellectual property rights in relation to patents, pointing out that the World Cup 2022 led to many patent applications from Qatar and its institutions, such as for the design of stadiums through Qatar Football Association.
Abeer al-Hammadi, director, Innovation and Economic Development, QF, RDI, spoke on effective management of intellectual property in sport about the types of intellectual property and how to use them in the sports market.
Al-Hammadi told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that she reviewed Qatar Foundation’s experience in dealing with sports inventions and the role of the Foundation in raising awareness of intellectual property in Qatar and in all fields, including sports, and pointed out that Qatar is a distinct country in sporting events and that intellectual property rights play an important role in protecting the rights of broadcasting or the sports mark of players, or in the field of medical inventions and other related matters.
Al-Hammadi stressed that Qatar Foundation is constantly supporting innovation in all fields and has different initiatives in this regard.