RIYADH - The Board of Directors of the Saudi Intellectual Property Authority has held its first meeting under the chairmanship of His Excellency the Minister of Commerce and Investment, Chairman of the Authority’s Board, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Qassabi, with the attendance of representatives from the government agencies and the private sector.
According to the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, the Saudi Intellectual Property Authority is considered one of the initiatives undertaken by the Trade and Investment System within the National Transformation Program 2020, where the said system worked to organize this authority and to set up its regulatory procedures to ensure the unification and integration of the intellectual property rights in the Kingdom.
At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Majid Al Qassabi welcomed the members of the Board of Directors of the said authority and pointed out the importance of regulating the intellectual property rights through one unified channel that contributes to the protection of intellectual property rights and raise trust in its function.
Dr. Al Qasabi affirmed the importance of the said authority’s role and endeavors to improve the business environment, also to stimulate the knowledge-based economy, as well as to enhance foreign investments in the Kingdom, and to contribute in paving the way towards creative innovations among the Saudi youth, besides raising the Kingdom’s rank in the World Innovation Index, in addition to enhancing and boosting the business for Small and Medium Enterprises, moreover using the financial revenue for the development of the intellectual property protection services.
In accordance with the regulatory arrangements, the Saudi Intellectual Property Authority will prepare the national IP strategy, follow up its implementation after adoption, develop work plans and time schedules in coordination and cooperation with the relevant authorities, and propose Rules and Regulations for the intellectual property rights.
The functions of the Saudi Intellectual Property Authority include registering the intellectual property rights, granting and enforcing protection documents, providing the information relevant to the intellectual property rights, making them available to the public, and raising awareness of the importance of the intellectual property and endeavoring to protect its rights.
The Saudi Intellectual Property Authority also represents the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the international and regional organizations related to intellectual property rights, defending its interests, expressing its opinion on international agreements related to intellectual property rights, as well as following up the implementation of the obligations resulting from the Kingdom's accession to international conventions related to the intellectual property.
The Saudi Intellectual Property Authority is also endeavoring to promote availing and benefitting of the intellectual property to build a knowledge-based advanced economy, besides setting up information bases related to the Authority's work, as well as to exchange information with local, regional and global bodies and give license and authorizations to activities related to the Saudi Intellectual Property Authority’s work.
The Board of Directors of the Saudi Intellectual Property Authority is chaired by the Minister of Commerce and Investment, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, including members from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy and Planning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Information, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, General Customs Authority, in addition to members and representatives from the private sector.