Workshop emphasises on intellectual property and competition protection

Muscat: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP), in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), organised a workshop on intellectual property and competition protection on Monday, October 30.

The workshop is scheduled to run for three days and was attended by Dr Saleh bin Saeed Masan, the Undersecretary of the MoCIIP.

Zahran bin Salem Al Mahrouqi, Director-General of the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention at MoCIIP, stated that this workshop is the first of its kind organised by WIPO in the Arab countries. It aims to emphasise the importance of competition protection and preventing monopolistic practices, while also drawing on international experiences in this field to enhance knowledge and professional standards for the participants. He stressed that Oman, with the aim of regulating economic activities and promoting market principles and price freedom that do not restrict or harm free competition, enacted the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Law under Royal Decree No. 67/2014.

Zahranal Mahrouqi further explained that the workshop would address crucial topics to help participants gain practical insights and benefit from WIPO's expertise and Egypt's experience in assessing non-competitive agreements. This includes a focus on intellectual property, evaluating the abuse of dominance, handling complaints, and assessing economic concentrations. The workshop also covers intellectual property and competition in the pharmaceutical and digital platform industries and the enforcement of competition law.

Nasraal Habsi, the Assistant General Manager of the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Center at MoCIIP, provided an overview of the center's objectives and responsibilities. The center aims to regulate economic activities, establish market rules, and ensure price freedom in a way that does not restrict or harm free competition. She highlighted the center's role in enforcing laws and regulations related to competition protection and monopoly prevention measures, conducting research to identify harmful competition practices, and handling complaints related to anti-competitive practices, among other responsibilities.

Giovanni Napolitano, the Head of Intellectual Property and Competition Department at WIPO, stressed the importance of initiating discussions about competition and the significance of intellectual property in this context. He emphasised the need to develop a strong relationship with the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Center to enhance the local and global competitiveness of effective companies in the market.

Rana Khoweiled, the Head of Mergers and Acquisitions Department at Egyptian Competition Authority, discussed the importance of competition protection and monopoly prevention laws in the economy. She mentioned that the workshop is part of several cooperation programs between the Sultanate of Oman and the Arab Republic of Egypt in various fields. She also focused on the Egyptian experience in evaluating non-competitive agreements, the use of dominance, and economic concentrations, while defining horizontal and vertical agreements, their components, exemptions, and the factors contributing to their formation, as well as their impact, along with several practical cases in this field.