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  Even though it was somewhat out of date the June 2011 issue contained on page 5 a fascinating article about a remarkable cure for cancer in camels that had been developed in the region.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.