Trademark Infringement Cases fall 20%

Registering a positive trend for Dubai Customs, there is about 20 per cent fall in trademark infringement cases. Dubai Customs handles more than 24,000 consignments every day.

The number of infringement cases fell from 256 in 2007 to 204 in 2008, according to a top official at Dubai Customs.

"Dubai is a hub of trading in the region and we give utmost priority in protecting IPRs and copy rights on products and services. We seized goods worth of Dh38,230,474 in 2008. We are using latest technology in identifying counterfeit products in the containers," Yousuf Ozair Mubarak, Sr Manager, intellectual property rights, IPR Department, Dubai Customs, said.

The number of IPR cases is also falling every year. It was 411 in 2006, 321 in 2007 and 184 in 2008 (till September). The estimated value of counterfeit goods also came down from Dh 18,742,407 in 2006 to Dh 13,798,955 in 2007.