Oman to attend WIPO’s general assembly meetings

BUSINESS REPORTER -

MUSCAT, sept 21 -

The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, is participating in the 61th World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) General Assembly meetings of the Member States, which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, until September 25, 2020.

The director of the Sultanate’s office at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva, and the General Directorate of Trade represented by the Intellectual Property Department, will participate in the meetings. The five-day meetings will discuss administrative and organisational issues.

The meetings will also focus on the Director General’s proposal to add two items to the agenda related to the Paris system and the Madrid system dealing with rights holders in a period of crisis such as the current COVID-19 crisis.

The rights-holders were unable to pay fees according to the specified periods due to the closure of intellectual property offices as well as the closure of post offices, which resulted in the inability to pay fees or send invoices and documents.

Therefore, WIPO will add non-binding guidelines for member states to guide them on how to deal with the Organisation’s requirements in times of crisis.