Ip Rights Need More Than Laws To Ensure Brands Are Protected
Gulf News Feature, March 19th, 2021:
Awareness along with legal options are still best way to protect IP abuses
Brand owners cannot afford any sort of breaches to their Intellectual Property rights. Image Credit: Agency
Dubai: Intellectual Property (IP) rights will need hands on management by brand owners to ensure they remain protected. Reliance on laws itself can only help up to a point.
"This can be a matter of critical business security, especially for brand preservation or differentiation, a tool for business expansion, or an asset when entering into new commercial partnerships, “ said Abdulla Alawadi, Chairman of Abdulla Alawadi & Associates, a UAE based law firm. "Budding entrepreneurs who spend hours to build and nurture an innovative idea can end up losing it to some other person or a company just because the IP rights are not legally registered.
"The awareness in this space is absolutely critical and is needed to protect the future of this thriving ecosystem."
IP is protected in law through patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable the individual or a firm to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create.
According to Statista, an online tracker of global economy and retail sector, the GCC e-commerce market was estimated to be around Dh72.29 billion in 2020. Saudi Arabia was the largest market with Dh30.46 billion followed by the UAE with Dh27 billion.