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The Ministry of Economy and Commerce will participate in the 28th edition of the Doha International Book Fair, which will be held from November 29 to December 5, 2017 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center.
 
The Ministry will set up a pavilion at the exhibition to promote the protection intellectual property rights, disseminate a culture of intellectual property and achieve the desired benefits.
 
During its participation in the book fair, the Ministry will highlight the important role that intellectual property rights play in economic development and promote awareness about the benefits of protecting intellectual property rights. The Ministry will also shed light on the most important services it provides in this field while showcasing its leading initiatives in terms of adopting the highest international standards in the protection of intellectual property rights. These include the creation of an integrated and high-quality electronic system to support and enable authors and related rights holders, trademark owners, inventors and innovators to preserve their rights and protect their inventions.
 
The Ministry will also underscore the importance of protecting copyright and related rights as one of the main elements of promoting intellectual property in the cultural field. The Ministry will also familiarize participants with laws and legislations in place to protect intellectual property rights against infringements and how they can proceed to register copyrights and related rights.
 
It is worth noting that Qatar ranks second among GCC countries in terms of intellectual property protection, according to the World Economic Forum’s “Global Competitiveness Report”. Qatar was also the first GCC country to adopt the ePCT system to file international applications under the PCT locally.
 
In 2016, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce received 564 patent applications, and 196 certificates were issued for author rights and related rights, while 8,200 trademark applications were registered. In addition, the Ministry received 11 applications submitted in accordance with the ePCT electronic filing system through the PCT office, which opened in September 2015.
 
The Ministry also launched online registration services for patents, trademarks, copyrights and related rights through the Ministry’s website as part of its efforts to electronically offer investors all services related to intellectual property rights.