Trademarks Assist Consumers and Businesses.
Trademarks assist consumers and businesses identify goods and services. As a result of the trademark system a consumer knows what taste, effect or quality to expect e.g.
- When a consumer buys a bottle of Coca-Cola anywhere in the Egypt they know what the taste will be before they open the bottle as a result of the Coca-Cola trademark;
- When a consumer buys a medicine anywhere in Egypt they know what the effect will be before they consume the medicine as a result of the trademark.
Trademarks Create Jobs and Facilitate Economic Growth.
Intellectual Property Right (IPR) intensive industries generate 39% of all jobs in the European Union (83.3 million jobs) and are responsible for 45% of the European Union’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is equivalent to €6.6 trillion Euros.
Trademark intensive industries alone generate 22% of all jobs in the European Union (46.7 million jobs) and are responsible for 37% of the European Union’s GDP, which is equivalent to €5.4 trillion Euros.[1]
As the Egyptian IPR system develops, including the trademark system, the potential impact on the economy would be significant.
Countries are Obligated to Protect and Enforce Trademark Rights.
Multiple international treaties, including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (177 signatories) and the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (164 signatories), obligate all signatories to protect and enforce IPR, including trademarks.
Countries which have failed to protect and enforce IPR have been punished and hit by trade sanctions.
Strong IPR Protection and Enforcement generates Foreign Investment.
As the protection and enforcement of IPR, including trademarks, develops in Egypt the potential for foreign investment will be substantially increase. Foreign companies prefer to invest in countries that protect their IPR?
Trademark Registration generates Significant Revenue for Governments.
The registration of trademarks for protection generates significant revenue for Governments all over the world, through the collection of administrative fees.
Counterfeiting of Trademarks funds Organised Crime.
The counterfeiting of trademarks is recognised by both Interpol and Europol as one of the main sources of funding for organised crime. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD) values the illegal trade in fake goods at up to $509 Billion-USD a year, larger than the international trade in narcotics.[2]
[1] IP Contribution
https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/ip-contribution;
[2] Trends in Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods.
https://euipo.europa.eu/tunnel-web/secure/webdav/guest/document_library/observatory/documents/reports/trends_in_trade_in_counterfeit_and_pirated_goods/trends_in_trade_in_counterfeit_and_pirated_goods_en.pdf