Meet The Authorities – Qatar Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Gulf BPG hosted the 4th “Meet the Authority” session, where Chairman Malek Hannouf started the meeting by welcoming representatives from Qatar’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, including Mrs. Amna Jabir Al Kuwari, Director of the Intellectual Property Rights Protection Department, and Mrs. Aisha Ali S A Namlan, Head of Inspection and Dispute Settlement – Intellectual Property Protection.

Mrs. Amna Al Kuwari expressed gratitude to Gulf BPG for organizing the meeting and emphasized the importance of collaboration before introducing Mrs. Aisha Al Namlan to begin her presentation.

Mrs. Aisha Al Namlan proceeded with her presentation, outlining the structure of the Intellectual Property Rights Protection Department, as well as the international treaties, laws, and regulations that govern the protection of intellectual property rights within the Ministry.

Following the presentation, a productive Q&A session took place, during which Gulf BPG members discussed their challenges and provided valuable suggestions on various topics, including:

• Enforcement procedures related to infringement of intellectual property rights, including periodic inspection campaigns for facilities.
• Penalties resulting from infringement of intellectual property rightsز
• Cooperating with other departments in the Ministry, such as the Consumer Protection Departmentز
• Sharing information regarding seizures with brand owners through a report containing information, including the quantity of seized goods.
• Cooperation with Qatar Customs – notifications.
• A suggestion on considering moving the sized products from the trader shop/warehouse to a facility managed by MoCI until receiving the ruling and looking for environmental friendly destruction options or recycling.

The meeting concluded with a final request from Mrs. Aisha to provide additional training sessions, whether in legal training or authentication training from Gulf BPG brands, to assist the authorities in enhancing their effectiveness. Malek Hannouf confirmed that Gulf BPG will continue to support the provision of these requested training sessions and expressed gratitude to everyone for attending and participating in the meeting.