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The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), kicked off on Monday, March 28 a workshop on the use of the Nice Classification and the Vienna Classification of trademarks.
The four-day workshop is taking place with the participation of 20 employees from the Intellectual Property Rights department at the Ministry.
The workshop aims to introduce and familiarize participants with international classifications and train employees of the Trademark department on the use of the Vienna Classification in a bid to facilitate the process of trademark assessments.
In a lecture presented at the workshop, Ms. Alison Zuger, an expert from the World Intellectual Property Organization, introduced participants to international classifications of trademarks.
Zuger highlighted that the Nice Classification is an international approved classification in accordance with the Nice Agreement of goods and services while the Vienna Classification is an international classification that was established under an agreement that concluded in 1973 at the Vienna Diplomatic Conference.
The Vienna agreement establishes a classification of the figurative elements of trademarks and constitutes a hierarchical system that proceeds from the general to the particular, dividing all figurative elements into categories, divisions and sections based on their shape.
The workshop comes within the framework of the ministry’s efforts to support and develop the services provided to all concerned parties with respect to the protection of intellectual property rights in addition to promoting awareness on intellectual property rights protection.