Qatar is close to finalizing new laws for trademarks, copyright and intellectual property rights (IPR). A two-day seminar was jointly organised by the Commerce Department at the Finance Ministry and WIPO. "A three-member team from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is currently reviewing our final draft for new laws in these areas", the Finance Ministry's director for the Department of Commerce, Abdulaziz Al-Kholeifi stated.
"We are aiming to finalise and submit these laws to the Cabinet in due course", he said. Qatar and eight other Arab countries in the region are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which has set a January 2000 deadline for developing countries to finalise all agreements on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs).
