His Excellency Dr. Ahmed bin Muhammad Al -Sayed, Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs, opened yesterday the work of the second edition of the International Conference on Mediation and Arbitration under the slogan “The role of alternative disputes settlement, intellectual property protection and innovation in attracting foreign direct investment for sustainable development”, which is organized in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and with the support of a number of national and international bodies, and in the presence of His Excellency Judge Khaled bin Ali Al -Obaidli, President of the Investment and Trade Court, His Excellency Mr. Saeed bin Abdullah Al -Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice, and Mr. Ignacio de Castro Yamas, Director of the Wewis Mediation and Mediation Center, and a wide participation of international experts from all over the world.
This conference comes within the framework of the continuous strategic partnership between the State of Qatar and the World Intellectual Property Organization, and an extension of the success achieved by the first version of the conference, which was held last June, reflecting the state’s commitment to achieving Qatar National Vision 2030, and implementing the goals of the third national development strategy (2024-2030), aimed at establishing Qatar’s position as a global center for innovation and sustainable investment.
Settlement of disputes by alternative means
In his opening speech, His Excellency the Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs stressed that the conference is an important international platform for the exchange of experiences and experiences on settling disputes by alternative means, and enhancing the protection of intellectual property rights as a pivotal element to attract foreign direct investments.
His Excellency pointed out that the Ministry of Trade and Industry adopts an integrated strategy to develop an economic environment based on innovation, by supporting priority sectors, stimulating productivity and competitiveness, enhancing the protection of intellectual property, enabling partnerships between the public and private sectors, as well as developing the business and small and medium -sized companies.
His Excellency stressed that the rapid transformations in the global economy, and the high pace of dependence on technology and innovation imposes the necessity of formulating flexible legal and economic frameworks, based on the principles of transparency and the rule of law, and contributes to building an effective system of intellectual property that is not limited to protection, but also enables to achieve sustainable growth based on knowledge.
On its first day, the conference witnessed specialized dialogue sessions, with the participation of a group of international experts, where they discussed the latest trends in settling disputes, legislative and organizational developments in the field of intellectual property, as well as a review of the role of innovation in supporting the business environment and promoting national economic development.
Establishing an effective legal environment
The conference was participated in the conference by the Arbitration and Mediation Center – the World Intellectual Property Organization, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, College of Law and Public Policy, the UNESCO Chair for Environmental Law and Sustainable Development, and the General Assembly of International Law, along with the Innovation Partner, the Qatar Council for Research, Development and Innovation, and the conference also has the support of a number of partners, most notably the Qatar Chamber, the Qatar International Court, the Dispute Resolution Center, and the Association of Experts Qatari cultural awareness arbitrators, the international law firm hoag llp, and the Qatar Lawyers Association.
It is noteworthy that the State of Qatar signed on October 7, 2024 a memorandum of understanding between the Qatar International Court, the Center for Dispute Resolution in the State of Qatar, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva in Switzerland on cooperation on the settlement settlement settlement by alternative means in the field of intellectual property, with the aim of providing the services of alternative dispute settlement locally, without prejudice to the parties to resort to specialized authorities in intellectual property issues. This step comes within the framework of the state’s endeavor to consolidate an effective legal environment that supports innovation and investment, especially in issues of a micro -technical nature, such as innovations related to recorded marks and brands.