Jordan Customs IP Workshop Concludes, with Various Recommendations to Protect Trademarks
12 Oct 2005AMMAN - Participants at the “Intellectual Property” workshop, organized by Jordan Customs Department in cooperation with Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) on Tuesday, have reached a number of significant recommendations, which they believe will lead to a more effective role in protecting intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the country.
The recommendations included: establishing a detailed database at the Customs Department concerning the registered trademarks in Jordan, coordinating with Jordan Institution for Standards and Metrology (JISM) to set out the best solution to prevent fake products entering the Kingdom, searching for modules which international customs departments would follow in detecting products bearing fake marks, and establishing a database for trademark infringers and those who repeatedly import fake products so that their products will be carefully inspected on customs check points.
Heads of sections at the Customs Department who attended the meeting presented different papers which illustrated the role of their sections in the enforcement of IPRs.
“We have discussed each paper with the attendees and after an extensive brain storming, we underlined mechanisms which enable customs employees to detect fake and infringing marks,” AGIP's consultant Sakher Al Khasawneh
said.
Al Khasawneh and AGIP Consultant Ala' Musleh have exerted intensive efforts, by explaining and guiding customs employees to the best ways to deal with infringing materials, in a series of seminars and workshops which started last September.
The training seminars and workshops reinforce the significance of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed by the Customs Department and AGIP on July 18, 2005, aimed at increasing cooperation between the two parties and enhancing their efforts in protecting IPRs.
“I believe that the procedural protection which include all means and procedures, defined by the law, and enables right holders to defend their properties through the judiciary system still needs to be modernized,” Head of the Customs Exemption section Samir Mismar said in his paper.
He called for establishing a specialized legal entity, similar to the international police, Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, to follow-up on intellectual property cases beyond Jordan’s borders.
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