DUBAI: Dubai Customs has confiscated a large amount of counterfeit products, as part of its efforts to protect intellectual property rights, in the first nine months of the year.
Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, said: “Dubai Customs conducted 101 seizures of illicit goods in the first nine months,” adding that counterfeits pose a serious challenge and adversely impact the growth of international trade.
“The World Chamber of Commerce estimates the worldwide volume of counterfeit products trade at about $654 billion.”
The wide circulation of counterfeits costs the global economy sectors dearly, he has told the 5th Conference on the Fight Against Intellectual Property Crime in MENA. “The IT sector alone stands an annual loss of $100 billion while counterfeit and substandard medicines cost pharmaceutical companies around the world $46 billion every year. Additionally, the damage borne by people buying fake auto spare parts is around $12 billion.”
A recent report by the World Intellectual Property Organisation show that the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) saw 214,500 patent applications in 2014, representing an increase of 4.5 per cent over 2013.
“On the other side, international trademark applications grew to a record of 47,885 in 2014, up by 2.3 per cent from 2013.”
Dubai Customs seeks optimal protection of the community against the serious effects of counterfeit and illicit trade, Musabih pointed out. “This is basically done by developing and introducing latest smart IT applications in customs inspection.” The Risk Engine, the Advanced Container Scanning System and the Smart Baggage Inspection System are only the cream of the crops, he added. “These in-house-developed systems have commendably improved DC’s inspection processes and increased its capacity to detect counterfeits.”
Official figures show that Dubai Customs made 756 seizures of IPR infringing goods between 2012 and 2014. Musabih said that from early 2012 until end of September 2015, Dubai Customs carried out a total of 110 IPR awareness seminars, which were attended by 4,600 people.
“For the same period, we organised around 16 workshops on methods for detection of counterfeits, with 446 participants from various government agencies tasked with fighting counterfeits.”
