Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: Oman will participate in the World Intellectual Property Day which is celebrated annually around the world on April 26. This year the day is being celebrated under the theme “Reach for Gold: Copyright and Sports.”
The intellectual property (IP) department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that the strategic use of intellectual property rights in world sports has huge potential to support economic development in a variety of ways, including revenue from sales of sports’ items and services, innovation support, commercial development, business and employment as well as profits of spending foreign currencies, strengthening of international trade, promoting values, improving health, social well-being and the spirit of competition.
Ahmad Bin Mohammed Al Saidi, Director of the Intellectual Property Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said: "The World Intellectual Property Day is an opportunity to highlight the role played by intellectual property rights in all its branches including patents, trademarks, industrial designs and writers copyright in the promotion of creativity and innovation."
He said that during the celebrations of World Intellectual Property Day, the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Intellectual Property Department, events would be organised on April 28-30, 2019 at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre. It would be participated by all GCC countries and a number of government and private sector institutions and academies of the Sultanate. During these celebrations, presentations would be made by the concerning authorities of the intellectual property rights in the Sultanate. They would highlight the importance of intellectual property rights and relations of sports with it. A Gulf Innovation Exhibition would also be organised on the side lines of this activity.
Ahmad Saidi said: "The innovations participating in the competition of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will be evaluated for the best idea in the field of sports. The work of evaluation would be done by a scientific committee which would comprise of both the ministry and Secretariat General of the GCC. This would see if the innovations are according to criteria, and to which level they have abided the terms and conditions. First three winning entries would be given prizes."
The ministry is trying to encourage owners of innovative enterprises to showcase their creativity by participating in the competition. They can participate with their best innovative sports ideas whether it is innovation, trademark, industrial design or copyright. The entry and the idea should be unprecedented and the owners of these ideas should be Omani nationals, citizens of GCC countries or the residents of the Sultanate.
The entry is being accepted from April 2 till April 26 on the link given on the website of the ministry of commerce and industry, he said.
He also invited owners of innovative ideas to participate in the competition regarding sports, either in the form of an equipment they have innovated, or logo of a particular sports, design of sports items or an application which helps the sports area.
"The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) urges member countries to celebrate the World Intellectual Property Day and highlight the world of sport and see how the rights of the intellectual property support the global system of sports, which is a unique theatre bringing all parties with common interests together. They can be organisers of sports events and tournaments and competitions, sports federations, athletes, teams and coaches, sports equipment makers, broadcasters, sponsors and sports enthusiasts,” he said.
"Intellectual property rights support all commercial relationships on which sports are based and allows sports to be viewed in different ways wherever we are. Intellectual property rights encourage creativity in the sports which leads to diversity in new methods of sports performance, better equipment and greater business and employment opportunities,” Al Saidi added.
