A two-day intensive awareness campaign, aimed at educating students on intellectual property rights and the importance of creativity and protecting creative work, will be held in Sharjah on April 27.

The two-day campaign is being organised by the department of seaports & customs in Sharjah in co-operation with Al Majd Model School and the Brand Owners’ Protection Group (BPG).

It is being hosted as a part of the group’s relentless and consistent efforts to fight counterfeiting and illicit trade, and protect intellectual property rights, said the organisers.

The campaign will see the participation and attendance of over 1,000 of Sharjah’s secondary schools’ students at Al Majd Model School.
 
The official inauguration ceremony will be attended by Rashed Alleem, head of Sharjah Customs, Omar Shteiwi chairman of BPG and Ali Al-Hossani, head of Al-Majd Model School, as well as representatives of UAE government authorities, law enforcement agencies and BPG members.

It is the first of a series of events being organised by the Intellectual Property Department in Sharjah Customs and the BPG in their celebration of world IP day which falls on April 26.

Shteiwi, who is also the regional intellectual property advisor for Nestlé Middle East said: “Our efforts have now evolved to a new level with the continuous support from the public sector and law enforcement agencies; we are now setting higher standards by developing IP awareness for the new generation.'

'It is vital that we teach them about intellectual property and why it is important to be creative and how to protect their own innovative work as well as the work of others,” he added.

Throughout the two day campaign, students from the school will be giving performances to explain and define intellectual property rights and why it is vital to protect those rights.

During the campaign several booklets and comic books, supplied by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), that explain IP rights in a simplified and friendly manner will be distributed to the students. As an added incentive various gifts will also be handed out at the end of each day.

Furthermore, in its continued drive to emphasise the importance of creativity, the department of intellectual property in Sharjah Customs will launch a new character called Mobdi’e (creative).

The creative Mobdi’e will take part in the shows that will enhance and demonstrate to the students the importance of being creative and innovative.

“We are pleased to be working closely with the public sector and our cooperation has gained momentum through the MoU that we have signed with Sharjah Customs, which is now yielding positive results.'

'We can see the proactive role played by them, and is only a clear indication of the UAE government’s keenness to protect IP rights and keep the UAE counterfeit free,”  Shteiwi explained.

The BPG is a non-profit organisation, officially founded in 2005 to fight illegal replication of genuine goods and other forms of illegal trade and strengthen the enforcement of intellectual property rights.-TradeArabia News  Service