ASIP’s Board of Directors held a meeting in Damascus on September 20, 2002. The meeting was presided over by its Chairman Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh and attended by the Board members and with the participation of a number of the General Assembly members. Many vital issues were discussed which resulted in consolidating ASIP’s activities and role in spreading its message and realizing its noble objectives. The Board approved the future action plan as indicated in 2001 Annual Report and decided to apply it. It was also decided to intensify developmental efforts by concluding more cooperation agreements with private and public Arab institutions. The Board stressed the importance of developing and updating ASIP’s website continuously to be a scientific reference for those interested in intellectual property. The Board also confirmed that it is important for ASIP to follow up the courts’ decisions related to intellectual property in the Arab countries and continuously update and feed them to their website.
Among the most distinct results was the Board’s approval of starting a promotion campaign for the Intellectual Property Expert Program and its certificate and the educational material of this program at the widest level in order to spread its benefits which are represented in upgrading the level of performance of students, practitioners and researchers in the field of intellectual property and law in the governmental departments, ministries, control authorities and universities.
The student who successfully passes the exam shall obtain a certificate, and if he has the necessary experience of three years, he will be granted the certificate of a qualified expert in all specializations of intellectual property. For this reason it was decided to prepare a seminar on the educational subject which addresses all aspects of the program and how to obtain a qualification. The educational material was prepared by WIPO and will be taught by ASIP through a franchise contract concluded with WIPO.
The Board of Directors also decided to create an intellectual property conflicts arbitration panel according to a mechanism which takes into consideration cooperation with Cairo International Arbitration Center, and to discuss with the concerned parties in the Arab League the issue of establishing the Center at the Arab world level, and cooperate with the Licensing Executives Society – Arab Countries because of its relations and concern over this issue.
The Chairman also briefed the attendees on the contacts which ASIP is conducting with the Arab League in order to decide the type of cooperation and work on issuing a unified Arab model law for intellectual property.
The Board also took note of the preparations for holding a seminar on intellectual property in Beirut in cooperation with the German Patent Office and WIPO, and to participate with a work paper in the patents conference which will be held in Qatar in cooperation with WIPO. In the field of supporting innovation and innovators, the Board approved ASIP’s readiness to participate in establishing a permanent unit for encouraging Arab innovation in Al-Basel Innovation Center in Damascus as a means of supporting this program which will assist innovators from various Arab countries to develop their creations and activate this center in order to become at the Arab world level.
The Board also approved the circulation of a special bulletin to be posted on the website which includes patents for the new Arab inventions, in order to encourage Arab inventors and innovators and as a participation from ASIP in spreading knowledge.
It was also decided to announce through ASIP’s website that an award will be granted to the best research or study in the Arab universities related to intellectual property and an independent professional council for granting this award will be formed.