ASIP Discusses Steps for Granting Intellectual Property Expert Certificate

Under the patronage of his Excellency Ghazi al-Areedi, the Lebanese Minister of Culture in Lebanon, the Arab Society for Intellectual Property (ASIP) chaired by Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh held its annual meeting in Beirut on the 28th of April 2003.

The meeting incorporated the discussion and approval of the work plan and the achievements of 2003-2005, as well as discussing the financial and administrative reports. It also included discussions on the commencement of the ambitious program of granting IP Expert Certificate (IPEC). The actual implementation of this program would involve the mechanism for training stages and subsequent examination, which will be approved after ASIP had translated the curriculum into Arabic in cooperation with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The IPEC program is considered the first of its kind in the Arab region. It will reinforce the quality and the numbers of the IP sector’s experts and specialists. The Council also examined the pioneering project launched by ASIP through gathering provisions and verdicts of Arab courts related to intellectual property, issuing them in one volume, and downloading them on ASIP’s website on the Internet.

Coinciding with the annual meeting, an agreement was signed with the well-known Lebanese publishing house (Sader) to market the ASIP’s publications including the (Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property Dictionary) and (IP Laws in the Arab Countries) as well as other specialized publications.

In addition to reviewing the annual report for the Board of Directors for 2002 and discussing the general budget for the same year and the projected budget for 2003 and ratifying it. Other discussions involved other administrative and regulatory matters, especially those relating to increasing ASIP’s membership.

ASIP, incidentally, was established in 1987 with the aim of promoting IP awareness in Arab societies and assisting in preparing and developing IP laws and legislations for the Arab countries.