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USPTO book campaign hits Middle East

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It was reported on 14 June that The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has looked to the Middle East to launch a new book campaign designed to spread awareness of IP issues. Intellectual Property Rights and You is a series of guides that tackle various different aspects of IP for the benefit of Middle Eastern inventors and entrepreneurs who are aiming for best-practice with the use of their intellectual assets.

USPTO attorney, Joseph Rodriguez, says that a lack of enforcement of IP laws in Middle Eastern territories contributes to a general lack of respect for them. This is compounded by an air of unpopularity that grows around what some see as restrictive legislation. He argues that public awareness will help to turn the tide.

Series author, Amir Khoury, said: ‘IP is entrenched in human nature … The real question is how we can become – in the East – the haves. It is not [just] a consuming culture; it is also a producing one. Once production here becomes prevalent, I assume that we will reach the same goals and prosperity.’ He added that IP ethics fitted in well with the region’s established cultural values, as the Koran frowns upon making unfair profits from other peoples’ work.

David Hale, the US ambassador to Jordan, highlighted the need for improvements in Middle Eastern IP in a Jordan Times editorial this week, stressing the problems caused by counterfeit products: ‘During a meningitis epidemic in Niger in 1995,’ he said, ‘more than 50,000 people were inoculated with fake vaccines, resulting in 2,500 deaths … The 1989 crash of a Norwegian aircraft was blamed on a fake bolt in its assembly; 55 people died … IPR protects not only the inventor, but the people who use the product.’

The books will be released in both English-language and Arabic versions.