Dubai: Dubai Customs made 40 seizures of counterfeit products worth Dh4 million in the first quarter of this year.
The announcement came during a Dubai Customs event to mark World Intellectual Property Day (April 26) on Sunday.
In 2014, more than 300 seizures worth over Dh36 million were made. In the same year, the UAE recorded the lowest software piracy rate in the GCC and Middle East and North Africa regions, Dubai Customs said.
“Dubai Customs exhibits a robust development in officers’ capacity to detect counterfeit products. This has led to a significant surge in the number of seizures involving IP [Intellectual Property] infringing goods,” it said in a statement.
IP infringement has become more advanced and harder to catch with the proliferation of anonymous online piracy content sharing sites.
On Saturday, Abu Dhabi Police said they arrested a man for uploading a pirated copy of an Arabic film on a paid video sharing website. The online print of the film had been uploaded the same day as its release across cinemas.
Every day millions of films and music tracks are illegally downloaded for free globally, costing producers a fortune in missed revenue.
Pirated CDs are another form of copyright violation that officials are combating, destroying hundreds of seized CDs every year.
The World Intellectual Property Organisation lists on its website at least 18 laws and decrees, containing hundreds of articles, issued by the UAE in the interest of IP rights.
Dubai Customs said it is not just concerned with thwarting smuggling of pirated or counterfeit products, but also working to raise awareness on the issue every year.
Sunday’s event also saw the honouring of Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chairman of Dubai Police and General Security in Dubai and Honorary President of Emirates Intellectual Property Association, as Dubai Custom’s Intellectual Property Personality of the Year 2015.
He received the trophy from Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and Chairman of DP World.
Dubai Customs Director Ahmad Musabih said: “Despite the fact that there isn’t an agency in the world that has the capacity to accurately account for the volume of counterfeiting trade, the adverse effects it leaves behind can be clearly seen. The damage is not restricted to economies of states or manufacturers — trademark owners — who spent billion on research, development, design, and opening production lines. The primary threat lies in counterfeits’ harmful effects on human health and safety.”
