Lawyer Monthly Magazine August 2020 Edition

WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | AUG 2020 38 AN INTERVIEW WITH NEVIN KOSHY Can you share issues that you believe need to be resolved for an effective patent regime? “If I had six hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first three hours sharpening my axe” – Abraham Lincoln A country which provides incentives for innovation to university/research facilities will, in turn, lead to a steady increase in a nation’s innovation system. However, much needs to be improved to make the Patent regime robust when compared to the older and mature IP systems in the world. Some of the areas which need improvement can be classified as follows: Profession: Although the Patent offices will grant practice license to firms to act before them, unlike in other mature IP jurisdictions, there are no requirements to have a separate license for individual Patent practitioners to qualify themselves as ‘agent’ or ‘attorney’. Faster prosecution: Some jurisdictions have relatively slow prosecution lead time, due to lack of patent examiners in the Patent office. Constructive steps need to be taken to fast-track the examination by collaborating with foreign Patent offices. Access to the patent database: The lack or no proper access to the patent database which has been filed in the region is another major issue one needs to improve. Unless the published patent database is easily available to interested third parties, the statutory ‘tools’ like opposition, invalidation and cancellation cannot be efficiently exercised. Although the domain of litigation and enforcement is yet another area which needs improvement, the aforementioned are some of the immediate reforms that the system requires, to encourage substantive patent filings within the GCC countries. Significant foreign investment and economic growth by innovation can be attracted by ‘sharpening’ the patent regime. prosecution costs due to the objections raised by the examiner during substantive examination. What complications can arise when trying to enforce your patent rights in the GCC region? One of the primary concerns most stakeholders still raise is the lack of case precedence or jurisprudence. This cripples the decisive power for potential stakeholders based on statistics. This, however, will change and the litigation landscape will evolve as more investment for innovation is being attracted to the region where patents rights will be enforced, invalidated, opposed as such. From a patent perspective - what would you advise companies who have a business interest in the GCC countries? GCC countries with its futuristic leadership, determination, strategic location, are only set to rise high in the global economy. With growing competition from the local markets, both domestic and international players need to keep their Intellectual Property protected based on their market interest. Research fundings and innovation acceleration are being sponsored by state governments in the field of water technology, food sustainability, green technology, space research and such. Before you ‘miss the bus’, it will be prudent to protect your rights and leverage your direct or indirect interest in the region. United Trademark & Patent Services (UTPS) is a leading firm of lawyers and consultants specialising in Intellectual Property rights and issues. With a heritage dating back to over 70 years, the firm is considered a specialist in intellectual property, laws for the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, by persistently keeping pace with the complex world of new technologies and the strategies required for protecting knowledge, vision and ideas. Excellence in our work has won the firm a leading position in this specialised field of law and we take pride in having more than 200 of the Fortune 500 companies on our firm’s portfolio. UTPS specialises in Intellectual Property services relating to copyright, design, patent, trademark and information technology. The firm offers a one-stop service for all Intellectual Property matters. Among others, our services include: · Due diligence and pre-filing clearance relating to Intellectual Property rights, · Copyright, Design, Patent and Trademark filing & prosecution, · Patent landscaping and freedom to operate analysis (worldwide), · Patent specification translation to Arabic (which is a pre-requisite to file GCC or national applications), · Licensing, franchising, distributorship issues, · Acquisition, divesture & technology transfer, · Intellectual Property portfolio management, · Investigation and watch services, · Company information, · Arbitration & Dispute resolution, · Infringement & Enforcement actions and litigation relating to those arising from commercial IP agreements, · Domain name disputes, · Anti-counterfeiting, administrative actions, raids and seizure of counterfeit products. Trusted IP Partners in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa including countries like Bahrain | Djibouti | Egypt | Ethiopia | Jordan | Lebanon | Morocco | Oman | Pakistan | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | Sri Lanka | Sudan | Tanzania | United Arab Emirates | Yemen “If I had six hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first three hours sharpening my axe”