Dubai: Complaints against flouting Intellectual Property (IP) rights have dropped by more than a third (34 per cent) in quarter one of 2020 in Dubai, compared to the same period in 2019, Dubai Economy said on Monday.
The authority’s Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) also revealed that a total of 5,300 trademark files have been registered in first three months of 2020, a 14 per cent increase on Q1 last year.
In the same period, the number of registered commercial agency files also rose, by 121 per cent, to reach 53. Only two infringement complaints were registered against commercial agencies in Q1 2020, a marked decrease of 71 per cent over Q1 2019.
US trademarks still constitute the largest share of files (1,610) registered in the ‘IP Gateway’ of Dubai Economy since its inception, followed by Emirati (790), German (375), French (329), and British (298) files.
Swiss trademarks topped the rise in the registration of new trademarks in the IP Gateway in Q1 2020 with a 50 per increase compared to Q1 2019, followed by the British Virgin Islands (32 per cent), Emirati (22 per cent), French (20 per cent), and German (17 per cent) trademarks.
The largest share (29 per cent) of infringement complaints on IP rights was for Swiss trademarks in Q1 2020, followed by US (18 per cent), German and French (14 per cent each), and Emirati (eight per cent).
CCCP also registered new trademark-related complaints from Arab countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, while there were no IP infringement complaints on Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Spanish trademarks.
Clothes were the leading category (18 per cent) of goods involved in the complaints, followed by non-metallic jewellery (14 per cent), watches (13 per cent), glasses (11 per cent), and bags and leather products (eight per cent).
Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, CEO of CCCP, said, “The results achieved during Q1 2020 reiterate the vital role played by Dubai Economy in protecting investor rights, thus enhancing business confidence and the economic environment in the emirate. The increase in commercial agency files registered with Dubai Economy reaffirm that Dubai is an attractive destination for the best trademarks around the world. It also reflects the growing global role of the retail sector in the emirate in enhancing competitiveness among trademarks and commercial agencies.”
