Omani girls win gold medal at an international exhibition

Muscat: Two Omani girls win gold medal in the International Innovation Exhibition in Geneva.
About 800 inventions from 46 countries were showcased at the exhibition. Tasneem and Salma’s invention titled “Extraction of environmentally-friendly oil from waste of dates and used cooking oil” was presented and has been patented as well. The oil is for use in the drilling of oil wells.
The idea of the invention is to convert daily waste into a material that has economic value and can be used in one of the most important industrial sectors today, that is oil and gas sector,” said Tasneem Al Dawoodi.
She added: “The project went through a number of stages of development and after we obtained positive results, the idea was transferred to the field of entrepreneurship and became a real project that can produce this material and use it practically in the field.”
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has registered a new patent of the production of oil extracted from the kernel of dates and waste kitchen oil.
Salma Al Sudairi added, “We have learned about the patent system by participating in seminars organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in colleges, and in public and private organisations, as well as through social networking sites.”
She said that obtaining the patent has economic importance as it strengthens the patent holder’s position in the market and protects it from theft and competition.
The registration of a patent also guarantees financial returns for the owner of the idea. Salma added that the registration of the project in the Intellectual Property Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is always encouraged.
“The reduction in fees has also encouraged us to register our project in the Intellectual Property to register their patents.
“The process of registration is easy and simple. It is the first step towards success. This is where the idea gets its rights,” she added.