The Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre

The Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre could be described irreverently as a one stop justice shop. Located in purpose build premises in the Qatar Financial Centre in Doha it houses the Qatar International Court (as the Qatar Financial Centre Civil and Commercial Court is now known) and provides facilities for early neutral evaluation, mediation and arbitration as well as litigation.

The Centre's vision is:

"To develop a world class International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre and provide national and international civil and commercial dispute resolution services within Qatar and the Middle East region that are accessible, modern, expeditious, economical and responsive to the needs of global business markets."

Its facilities include multi-channel video and audio-conferencing equipment that enable parties and their counsel to conduct proceedings from anywhere in the world.  Its court room in Doha is equipped with computers fitted with touch screen panels for the parties and proceedings are displayed on large TV monitors. Facilities for negotiation, mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") are provided in the same building. 

I described the court's jurisdiction and organization in my article  "Qatar Financial Centre: Civil and Commercial Court Regulations" which appeared on this blog on 28 June 2011,  Since that article the court has published an introduction to the court and its procedure ("Additional Procedural Information"), Procedural Rules and  an Official Practice Guide.

Art 29.1 of the Regulations provides that "any qualified lawyer who is entitled to appear before the superior courts ......of any ... jurisdiction shall have rights of audience. Since the proceedings are in English and most of the judges cone from the United Kingdom barristers from England and Wales would be well placed to represent parties before that court.   

Just I wrote this article I watched the Qatar team proudly march through the Olympic stadium.  I was delighted to see women among their number and I extend a particularly warm welcome to them. I hope they enjoy their stay in my country and wish them the best of luck in their competitions.  My best wishes to the  representatives of the other countries in the region too.

Should anybody wish to discuss this topic further, he or she can call me on +44 161 850 0080 or fill in my contact form. He or she can also contact me through Facebook, Linkedin, Xing or twitter..

LES - Arab Countries

Most intellectual property practitioners are aware of the The Licensing Executives Society ("LES"), an international association of intellectual property lawyers, patent and trade mark agents, licensing managers and other professionals.  It consists of a number of national and regional associations such as LES Britain and Ireland and LES (USA and Canada). The association that covers the Gulf Co-operation Council states is the Licensing Executives Society - Arab Countries ("LES-AC"). Membership is open to anyone interested in licensing, technology transfer or research and development in any member state of the Arab League.

Visiting its website I noticed a number of interesting publications some of which can be downloaded such as the "Introduction to Franchising" and "Guidelines for Licensing and Technology Transfer Agreements" and others of which can be ordered.  Having just read the downloadable publications I can confirm that they are useful introductions to those topics for lawyers and business people anywhere. There is also an interesting LES-AC newsletter though the latest downloadable edition appears to be exactly a year old.  Even though it was somewhat out of date the June 2011 issue contained on page 5 a fascinating article about a remarkable cure for cancer in camels that had been developed in the region.

LES-AC also seems to run some good courses including an "Arab Certified IP Practitioner" programme at basic, intermediate and advanced levels, the latest of which took place in Jordan last month. Judging by the list of topics under discussion and the very modest course fees by British standards - the basic course being free - it seems to offer excellent value for money. There are also CPD courses though it is not clear where these take place or how much they cost.

LES-AC appears to have its head office in Amman but there seem to be branches in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Manama, Muscat and Riyadh.  

Abu Dhabi: An Offer to Film Makers that will be hard to refuse

On 20 May 2012 The Abu Dhabi Film Commission announced an incentive scheme to attract film makers to the Emirate. It takes the form of a 30% rebate of the eligible production spend in Abu Dhabi. According to FAQ about the scheme on the Commission's website the following expenditure qualifies for a rebate:

"All expenditure within Abu Dhabi on location or studio filming and expenditure that is directly related to the production of the project that is purchased or sourced through Abu Dhabi based companies. This includes the purchasing or licensing of intellectual property and goods owned, or facilities and services provided by Abu Dhabi companies."

Expenditure that is not eligible includes

1. Financing expenditure
2. General business overheads of the UAE co-producer or production services company 
3. Deferments, profit participation and residuals
4. Advances
5. General expenses such as general costs of administration
6. Travelling and transport costs of crew and cast to UAE
7. Gifts and entertainment expenses
8. Expenditures incurred in other countries
9. Land and building costs and maintenance
10. Executive Producer fees
11. Publicity and marketing costs
12. Consultant fees charged by a consultant to prepare the application
13. Costs for legal advice
14. Contingency costs
15. Costs for insurance related to financing
16. Purchase of capital goods

The FAQ indicate that  labour costs relating to contracting UAE registered crew and services including daily payments for activities in Abu Dhabi may qualify for the rebate but deferred salary payments and residuals do not qualify,  Similarly,  though travel and transport of crew and cast to Abu Dhabi are excluded, temporary accommodation in Abu Dhabi as well as airline tickets booked on the Abu Dhabi airline Etihad Airways or the private charter of aircraft based in the UAE may qualify for the rebate.

The rebate is available for almost any type of film or television programme whether shown in Abu Dhabi or not. These include 

• Feature films
• Television drama including series
• TV and feature documentaries
• Factual and natural history
• Comedy
• Commercials
• Music videos 
• Other television, such as lifestyle, reality, game shows and entertainment programmes

It also includes post-production and digital effects services supplied inside Abu Dhabi for projects shot outside the UAE.

The scheme is clearly aimed at attracting  film and programme makers from India and Pakistan who already use Dubai as a film location. The Abu Dhabi Film Commission already operates as an exchange for crews, production companies and locations.  According to its downloadable Locations Guide it can offer some spectacular backdrops for filming.

As I discussed in my articles "Copyright and Related Rights in the United Arab Emirates" of 4 Jan 2012 and 11 Feb 2012 films and performances are protected throughout the Union by Federal Law No. 7 of 2002 concerning Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights.  Abu Dhabi has not set up a local common law jurisdiction like the DIFC Courts or the QFC Civil and Commercial Court (see my article on the QFC of 3 April 2011) but the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce does offer a commercial arbitration service.   Moreover, there appears to be nothing to prevent the choice of any law or jurisdiction in a film contract or contract for production services. Further information about the scheme can be obtained from the Abu Dhabi Film Commission's website or by calling  +971 2 401 2701.

Dubai is also a film location with a growing local film and TV industry. Film and production businesses are beginning to cluster in Dubai Studio City,   There is a also a cluster of advertisers, events management, marketing and other media businesses in Dubai Media City.  According to Rapid TV News, Dubai has recently enacted legislation to establish a film and television commission in Dubai along the lines of the Abu Dhabi Film Commission (see Rebecca Hawks "Dubai to establish film & TV commission" 28 May 2012).

As ever, should anybody wish to discuss this topic further, he or she can call me on +44 161 850 0080 or fill in my contact form. He or she can also contact me through Facebook, Linkedin, Xing or twitter.

Gulf Co-operation Council Member States - Treaties and Intellectual Property Authorities

Country	Treaties and Conventions	Intellectual Property Office
Bahrain	Berne, Brussels, Madrid Protocol, Paris, Patent Co-operation, Patent Law, Rome, Trademark Law, TRIPS, WIPO Copyright, WIPO Performances and Phonograms	Ministry of Industry and Commerce P.O. Box 5479 Manama Bahrain +973 17530335
Kuwait	TRIPS	Ministry of Trade and Industry Trademarks and Patents Department P.O. Box 2944 Safat 13030 Kuwait +965 22 42 4426
Oman	Berne, Brussels, Budapest, Hague, Madrid Protocol, Nairobi, Paris, Patent Co-operation, Patent Law, Trademark Law, TRIPS, UPOV, WIPO Copyright, WIPO Performances and Phonograms	Ministry of Commerce and Industry P.O. Box 550 Code No. 113 Muscat Oman+968 247 741 26 / 992 226 22
Qatar	Berne, Nairobi, Paris, Patent Co-operation, TRIPS, WIPO Copyright, WIPO Performances and Phonograms	Intellectual Property Center Ministry of Justice P.O. Box 917 Doha Qata +974 448 42 292
Saudi Arabia	Berne, Paris, TRIPS	General Directorate of Industrial Property, King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) P.O. Box 6086 Riyadh 11442 +9661 481 4342
United Arab Emirates	Berne, Paris, Patent Co-operation, Rome, TRIPS, WIPO Copyright, WIPO Performances and Phonograms	Directorate of Industrial Property, Ministry of Economy and Commerce P.O. Box 901 Abu Dhabi +971 2 613 1336

Qatar Intellectual Property Law

Last Saturday morning I listened to a report on BBC Radio 4 by Razia Iqbal about the Qatar Philharmonic. This is the first and so far only symphony orchestra in the Gulf and it is developing an enviable reputation.  The great American conductor Lorin Maazel is said to have rated it among the great orchestras of the world.  Certainly they seem to have been very received in London as this YouTube clip from their performance of Marcel Khalife’s Arabian Concerto at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 8 April 2010.shows.

The Qatar Philharmonic is just one of a number of cultural initiatives in this tiny kingdom. In her programme Iqbal discussed several of the others grouped in the Katara Cultural Village, a complex of museums, theatres, academies and auditoriums just outside Doha.   The cultural village is itself one of a number of other initiatives to transform Qatar's society and economy.   Others include the Qatar Financial Centre, the educational cluster with local campuses of no less than 8 first rate universities including University College London and the Qatar Science and Technology Park.  

These initiatives complement an active foreign policy and, of course, the international broadcasting service, Al-Jazeera which, together, have contributed greatly to political change throughout the Middle East and North Africa. With a land area slightly smaller than that of Yorkshire and less than half that county's population, Qatar punches well above its weight.

The cultural, educational, scientific and technical initiatives discussed above will flourish only with a strong intellectual property base.  Qatar has been a member of the World Trade Organization and hence party to TRIPS since 1 Jan 1996. It is party to the Berne and Paris Conventions though not to Rome but it has signed up to the WIPO Phonograms and Performances Treaty as well as to the WIPO Copyright Treaty. In accordance with TRIPS Qatar has enacted:

• Law No. 7 of 2002 on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights;
• Law No. 9 of 2002 on Trade Marks, Trade Names, Geographical Indications and Industrial Designs the text of which is available only in Arabic; and
• Decree Law No. 30 for the year 2006 To Issue Patents Law.

Qatar is, of course, party to the Gulf Co-operation Council and enforces patents issued by the the GCC Patent Office in its territories. Patents, copyrights and semiconductor topographies  appear to be the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice while trade marks, designs and geographical indications are the responsibility of the Ministry of Business and Trade.

Should anyone wish to discuss this topic further he or she can call me on +44 161 850 0080 or fill in my contact form. He or she can also contact me through Facebook, Linkedin, Xing or twitter.

Why has no IP case come before the DIFC Courts?

In the 6 years of their existence the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) courts have never actually had an intellectual property case. That is not because intellectual property falls outside their jurisdiction.  Arts 37 and 38 of the Centre's Law of Obligations (Law No 5 of 2005) codify the common law rules of confidence and passing off (see "The DIFC Law of Confidence" of 27 Jan 2011 and "The DIFC Law of Passing Off" 7 April 2011).

One possible reason why there have been no intellectual property cases in the DIFC courts is that patents and designs are about goods rather than services   There have been a few IP cases involving financial institutions in the UK such as HFC Bank plc v Midland Bank plc [2000] FSR 176 and  Cantor Fitzgerald International v Tradition (UK) Ltd  (2001) 24(9) IPD 24057, [2001] EWCA Civ 942 but they have been about branding and computer software. Another possible reason is that piracy and counterfeiting are dealt with by customs or other autoritties in the UAE.

There may be more scope for intellectual property litigation as a result of the DIFC Court of Appeal's decisions in Corinth Pipeworks SA v Barclays Bank Plc and Al Khorafi and Others v Bank Sarasin-Alpen (ME) Limited and Another and Law No 16 of 2011.   These cases were about torts that occurred outside the DIFC where the defendant was a "Centre Establishment".  If a business established or carrying on business within the DIFC infringes an intellectual property right anywhere in the UAE it should be possible to sue it in the Centre.  If the parties to a licence or other agreement relating to intellectual property rights can be sure of an English speaking common law forum (as they now can thanks to Law No 16 of 2011) they may well be tempted to choose DIFC law and the DIFC courts in their choice of law and jurisdiction clauses.

Part 25 of the  Rules of the DIFC Courts provide all the interim remedies that are available under the Civil Procedure Rules including search orders and freezing injunctions. The forms and procedure are very similar to those of the Chancery Division in England.

Should anyone wish to discuss this topic further he or she can call me on +44 161 850 0080 or fill in my contact form. He or she can also contact me through Facebook, Linkedin, Xing or twitter.

DIFC Courts' Jurisdiction: Corinth Pipeworks Appeal Allowed

In CFI 024/2010 Corinth Pipeworks S.A. v Barclays Bank PLC Sir Anthony Colman, Deputy Chief Justice of the DIFC struck out Corinth Pipeworks SA's claim for damages for statements allegedly made by one of the employees of the defendant's Jebel Ali branch on the grounds that the DIFC courts had no jurisdiction to hear a claim for wrongdoing outside the Centre even though the defendant bank carried on business within the Centre. I discussed that case in DIFC Court: Corinth Pipeworks SA v Barclays Bank Plc on 11 March 2011. The claimant appealed.   In CA 002/2011 Corinth Pipeworks SA v Barclays Bank Plc the Court (Chief Justice Michael Hwang SC and Justices Sir John Chadwick and His Excellency Ali Al Madhani) allowed the appeal.

The DIFC Courts' jurisdiction derives from Law No.12 of 2004 in respect of The Judicial Authority at Dubai International Financial Centre.  Art 5 (1) (a) of that law confers exclusive jurisdiction on the Court of First Instance in respect of "civil or commercial disputes civil or commercial cases and disputes involving the Centre or any of the Centre’s Bodies or any of the Centre’s Establishments."  Art 2 defined "Centre Establishments" as

"Any entity or business duly established or carrying on business in the Centre, including any Licensed Centre Establishments."

The same article defined "Licensed Centre Establishments" as "Any entity licensed, registered or otherwise authorised to carry on financial or banking business."  Sir Anthony had held that the branch of the defendant company that carried on business in the DIFC was a "Centre Establishment" but not the bank as a whole.

The Court of Appeal disagreed with Sir Anthony's "reasoning that a "Centre Establishment" can be identified as an unincorporated entity which is permitted to conduct business within the DIFC in accordance with the terms of its license and registration with the DIFC."   In the words of the Chief Justice at paragraph [59]:

"Centre Establishment" must be a legal entity because that is the only way in which the term "entity" used in Article 2 of Law No. 12 can be understood. Where a bank is licensed to carry on business in a place outside its country of incorporation, it is necessary for that bank to carry on business either through an unincorporated branch of the bank or through a separate legal entity which is a subsidiary of the bank. Bank regulators frequently, if not typically, require foreign banks to carry on mainstream banking business through a branch rather than a local subsidiary. However, it would be uncommon for an unincorporated branch of a foreign bank to be treated under local law as a legal entity separate and distinct from its head office unless it has been separately incorporated as a subsidiary. I cannot therefore accept the proposition advanced by the Deputy Chief Justice that a "Centre Establishment" can be an entity which may be (to use the learned Judge's words) "within the corporation". A branch is no different in law from a division, and a division of a corporation is part of that corporation, and has no legal entity of its own (although it may be treated as an accounting entity for certain purposes)."

Having found that an unincorporated DIFC branch of a foreign bank cannot be regarded as an independent entity for purposes of qualifying as a "Centre Establishment", it followed that this term had to be interpreted to mean the defendant bank and its various branches, wherever located. Accordingly, the DIFC Courts had jurisdiction over the conduct of the branch where the alleged wrongdoing took place.

While sharing Sir Anthony's concern as to the limits of the DIFC courts' jurisdiction, the Chief Justice noted at paragraph [68] that:

"(a)    It is entirely within the control of banks and other enterprises carrying on business in the DIFC and the wider Emirate of Dubai as to whether they choose to subject their business within the wider Emirate to the jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts — if they do not wish to do so, they can either trade through separate corporate vehicles in the DIFC and the wider Emirate or (even more simply) include jurisdiction clauses in their contracts choosing where they allocate jurisdiction over any disputes.
(b)    There may well be good reasons why banks and other enterprises carrying on business in both the DIFC and the wider Emirate of Dubai should choose to subject their business within the wider Emirate to the jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts — their business may (as in the present case) be carried on in the English language, and/or their transactions may be subject to a substantive law other than that of the Emirate.
(c)   The situation under consideration will clearly not arise where the "Centre Establishment" is a company incorporated and carrying on business in the UAE outside the Emirate of Dubai or elsewhere. The principles of private international law limit the powers and discretion of the DIFC Courts so as to prevent the exercise of exorbitant jurisdiction, and the DIFC Courts possess the discretion to decline jurisdiction on grounds of forum non conveniens."

Sir John Chadwick and His Excellency Ali Al Madhani delivered concurring judgments.

The Court of Appeal's decision in Corinth Pipeworks follows hot on the heels of the decree of 31 Oct 2011 which extended the DIFC courts' jurisdiction to cover any business dispute from any part of the world.     I commented on the extension of the Court's judgment in "DIFC Courts Spread Their Wings" on 7 Dec 2011.   The combined effect of the decree and appeal is to enhance considerably the convenience of the court for determining all manner of commercial disputes including those relating to intellectual property.

Though an IP case is yet to come before the DIFC courts there is no reason why it should not handle one effectively.   Sir John Chadwick heard plenty such cases when he sat in the Chancery Division in London.   Part 25 of the Rules of the DIFC Courts enable those courts to grant interim injunctive relief as quickly and effectively as any court in the world. 

Should anyone wish to discuss this topic further he or she can call me on +44 161 850 0080 or fill in my contact form. He or she can also contact me through Facebook, Linkedin, Xing or twitter.