Country Focus: Meeting IP Challenges in Lebanon

The Intellectual Property Protection Office of the Ministry of Economy and Trade in Lebanon has developed rapidly and faced many challenges in the last few years. Today, however, it may be facing its greatest challenge as it tackles Lebanon's counterfeiting and piracy problem. At the beginning of summer, Fadi Makki, Director General of the Ministry, announced a new crackdown on piracy, both by increasing raids and through education and incentive programs to increase understanding of intellectual property (IP) rights.

The road behind

Lebanon was one the first countries in the Arab region to pass legislation to protect IP, and has been a member of various international IP conventions since the 1920s. So when new international and regional agreements necessitated a revision of IP laws and infrastructure for many countries, Lebanon did not hesitate. Over the last decade, Lebanon has updated IP laws and enforcement mechanisms, a continuous effort that has required much reorganization and training of personnel.

For example, Lebanon enacted new laws on the protection of copyright in 1999 and on patents in 2000. The government is currently putting the final touch to a new law on trademarks and geographical indications, and is developing legislation on distinctive signs, designs and unfair competition. The Ministry of Economy and Trade faced a number of difficulties in implementing the new laws because of gaps in the institutional infrastructure. Some of the problems included:

* outdated IT equipment and network links between offices;

* a lack of specialized staff and judges in the courts;

* limited technical capacity and available human resources for enforcement;

* limited means to promote public awareness of new laws.

Assistance from WIPO and other organizations, including the private sector, have helped them to overcome some of these problems. The Ministry has now computerized its offices, and launched an online trademark database this summer. Staff have been trained to carry out the full range of trademark registration processes. An outreach program was launched in schools. Enforcement raids are now coordinated between the IP Protection Office, customs and the judiciary.

But an increase in counterfeiting in 2004 raised the bar.

Facing the challenge

Lebanon already had one of the highest rates of counterfeiting and piracy in the world. A...