(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- The State Council on Wednesday approved the draft law on Trademark of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), countries assigned by the Council of Ministers with the reports of the Economic Committee and of Majlis A'Shura.
It also approved the draft law on Regulation and Protection of Aflaj Sites listed on the Unesco World Heritage List referred by the Council of Ministers and the reports of the Committee of Culture, Information and Tourism and the Shura Council, stated a press release. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah al Harthi, head of the Economic Committee, presented the committee's report on the draft law. He stressed on the importance of trademark as a means of guaranteeing the product and the consumer at the same time.
The economic importance of trademarks lies in the fact that they contribute to the reduction of fraud and counterfeiting and are a tool to preserve the competitive advantage of the product or service it symbolises. Harthi said that the Paris Treaty for the Protection of Industrial Property in 1883 was the main document on which International Trademark Law was based and paved the way for the conclusion of international conventions and treaties in the area of trademarks.
He explained that in relation to the sultanate, trademarks were among the most important topics organised by several legislations that were issued and amended, including the Royal Decree 68/87 on the issuance of the Trademarks and Trademarks Law on October 5, 1987, (2000) dated May 21, 2000 on the repeal of the previous Law No 68/87 and the issuance of the Trademarks, Data and Trade Secrets Act and protection against unfair competition.
Subsequently, a Royal Decree was issued on April 23, 2007 regarding Oman's accession to the Protocol of the Madrid Agreement the International Registration of Trademarks of 1989 and the Trademark Law Treaty in 1994.
He said that on May 12, 2008, a Royal Decree was issued concerning the repeal of the previous law No 38/2000 and the issuance of the Industrial Property Rights Law, including a special section titled, 'Trademarks', which is the law in force so far. The session also discussed the draft law on Regulation and Protection of Aflaj Sites listed on the Unesco World Heritage List referred by the Council of Ministers and the reports of the Committee of Culture, Information and Tourism and the Shura Council on it.
The chairman of the Committee on Culture, Information and Tourism, Dr Ahmed bin Ali al Mashaykhi said that a sub-committee was formed to study the draft law, which follows the sultanate's procedures to register a group of Omani falaj within the World Heritage in accordance with the International Convention for the Safeguarding of Cultural and Natural Heritage.
He pointed out that the committee had introduced some amendments to the draft law, which consists of 18 articles. Some observations were also made on amending the Animal Welfare Law and the Veterinary Medical Practice Law.
H E Dr Yahya bin Mahfoudh al Mantheri, chairman, State Council said that the council would discuss on Thursday the proposal of the Economic Committee on the study of the development of the capital market and the banking sector. In addition, proposal to form a special committee to study the topic of 'Development of a national programme of performance and creativity of the government', will also be deliberated upon.
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