On Wednesday, July 29, 2009, the Association for the Protection of Industrial Property in the Middle East and North Africa (APPIMAF) organized a symposium titled “The Revision of the Lebanese Intellectual Property Draft Laws”. The symposium was held at the Beirut Bar Association, under the patronage of HE the Minister of Justice Prof. Ibrahim Najjar and the President of the Beirut Bar Association, Mr. Ramzi Jreij. The symposium was designed to illustrate the importance of updating the Lebanese intellectual property laws and improving intellectual property law enforcement, thus providing a catalyst for the growth of the Lebanese economy by attracting foreign investments and becoming a contributing part of the global trading community.
The Symposium began with opening remarks from APPIMAF President, Me. Kamal Berti who welcomed the 150 attendees and thanked HE the Minister of Justice for attending.
The first session, presented by Mrs. Salwa Faour, Head of the Intellectual Property Protection Office at the Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade, included the presentation of the ‘Trademark Registration Proceedings’ according to the Trademarks Draft Law. Whereas the second session presented by Mr. Fadi Sarkis, from Sarkis Law Firm (APPIMAF Reporter), discussed and evaluated the Trademark Draft Law and the suggested amendments. As in regards to the Copyright Law no. 75/99, Dr. Edouard Eid, a pronounced Lebanese author and writer of many Law books and references, evaluated the amendments suggested by decree no. 972/2007, and discussed the “Exceptions to the Copyright Law 75/99 under the provisions of the Bern Convention”.
These evaluations of the suggested amendments and registration proceedings are to be presented to the parliament. The draft laws have not been discussed nor taken into consideration since the year 2007, due to the political problem arisen then. However, as HE the Minister of Justice Prof. Ibrahim Najjar mentioned in his speech, these amendments “are expected to be discussed by the parliament as soon as the new government is constituted.”
