The Association for the Protection of Industrial Property in the Middle East and North Africa (APPIMAF) was founded in Beirut in 1973 as a professional organization having the principal objective of promoting awareness to industrial property rights and to the concept of their protection in the Arab World. It was created at the initiative of late Mr. Fouad Saleh Saba and a number of industrial property law practitioners from Lebanon and other Arab countries who recognized, at the time, the need and benefit of bringing together industrial property specialists working in the industry or in private practice in the Arab world to devise and discuss ways to promote and enhance intellectual property rights protection and enforcement in our part of the world.

In 1973, APPIMAF applied for and obtained affiliation with the International Association for the Protection of Industrial property (AIPPI), thus becoming its Arab Regional Group.

Pursuant to the APPIMAF By-Laws, active members automatically become members of the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI) with all the rights and privileges conferred upon AIPPI members.

APPIMAF has grown many folds since that time. It currently boasts a multidisciplinary membership base comprised of attorneys, judges, university professors and experts in the field of intellectual property.

When the number of Egyptian members in APPIMAF exceeded twenty five and these members had satisfied the minimum financial and technical requirements, APPIMAF encouraged them to start their own National Association and provided its full backing and support to obtain accreditation from the AIPPI as its Egyptian National Group. The Egyptian Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AEPPI) finally saw the light in 1993.

The Association for the Protection of Industrial Property in the Middle East and North Africa (APPIMAF) has and continues to play an important role in promoting awareness to intellectual property rights in the Arab countries, and advocating their protection thereby contributing to the economic advancement as well as the transfer and development of technology in these countries. It has organized conferences and seminars on numerous occasions for the above purposes where members had the opportunity to meet with officials from different Arab Patent and Trademark Offices and discuss the latest developments in the field of intellectual property rights protection. Moreover, APPIMAF issues and distributes an Arabic quarterly publication, under the name "APPIMAF Newsletter" that discusses the latest legislations, resolutions and case law pertaining to intellectual property protection in the Arab World. It also compiles newsletters and studies published by the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI).

Since its establishment, the Association has had the following presidents:

The late Mr. Fouad Saba (1972 - 1983), Mr. Latif El-Hakim (1983 - 1988), Mr. Suhail Saba (1988 - 1997), Mr. Ibrahim Tarazi (1997 - 2002), Mr. Kamal Berti (2002 - present).

Following are the members of the present Executive Committee elected in 2009:

Kamal Berti	President	Ghaida Ala' Eddein	Member
Tawfic Salem	Vice President	Ekram Al-Haq Baker	Member
Ramzi Tarazi	Secretary General	Hatim Mohamedain	Member
Fadi Sarkis	Reporter	Nader Qumsieh	Member
Hisham Zahr	Treasurer	Sarah Hachaichi	Member