Muscat: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, seeks to address intellectual property policies in protecting geographical indications and traditional knowledge, preserving and protecting marine and animal products, including their treasures that contribute to advancing the national economy and raising societal awareness about the importance of geographical indications and the need to register them under names that suit their natural or industrial characteristics.
The Intellectual Property Department at the ministry affirmed that protecting geographical indications aims at protecting the environment and biological diversity of an origin, commodity or service that is is mainly attributed to the geographical area where goods are produced, developed and processed, and whose origin is that geographical location that affects and was affected by natural and human factors. The ministry seeks to ensure the conformity of recordable products as a geographical indication to prevent random registration and protect the interests and rights of producers and professionals.
Fatima bint Khalfan al Balushi, biotechnology patent specialist at the Intellectual Property Department said, "The Omani law has given industrial property legal rights to the applicant for protection for the geographical indication. The ministry is conducting research with the relevant authorities to protect the geographical indications products."
She added that geographical indications are an effective tool in drawing local strategies, especially by contributing to quality and source standards in promoting the geographical location on a large scale, saying that countries are actively seeking to protect such products to prevent others from practicing them, whether it was an illegal sale, manufacturing or acquisition, or attributing it to a place other than its original origin. --ONA
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