Ibrachy & Dermarkar

The Prime Minister (PM) (Dr. Mostafa Kamal Madboli) issued on August 18th, 2021, the decree number 1967/2021 stating that the President of the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) is now a member of the Compulsory Licensing (CL) Ministerial Committee formed by the Decree 251/2020 . This Committee was established in compliance with articles 23 and 24 of the Egyptian IP law No. 82/2002 and the executive regulation of IP law articles No. 36 -43. The members of the Committee as outlined by the PM Decree No. 251/2020 that was issued back in January 2020 were:

Egypt has introduced a new customs system by virtue of the new Executive Regulation of the Egyptian Customs Law number 207/2020, hereinafter referred to “the Executive Regulation”. The new executive regulation was issued by the Ministry of Finance and published in the official gazette (issue 193 continued) on 31 August 2021.  The Executive Regulation developed procedures for IPR protection which was not envisaged in its predecessor Executive Regulation No. 10/2006). The new Executive Regulation has set out new procedures in Articles from 2 to 13. These advanced procedures have been introduced to enhance Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection in Egypt and to prevent IPR infringement, criminal offences relating to IPR, and the remedies available to an IPR proprietor.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) members agreed to schedule a meeting on September 14th, 2021, to continue consideration of the proposal for a temporary waiver of certain TRIPS IP protection obligations in response to COVID-19.  Accordingly, the chair of the WTO’s TRIPS Council, Ambassador Dagfinn Sorli from Norway arranged the meeting on the set date.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) – Executive Office of the President has issued its 2021 Special 301 Report (Report). This Report is about the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection in various countries worldwide with particular emphasis on how it affects the US IPR. The Special 301 Report is the result of an annual review of the state of intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement in U.S. trading partners around the world.

Kuwaiti telecoms provider Zain will invest USD 10 mn in Swvl’s newly announced merger with US-based SPAC Queen’s Gambit, ahead of the ride-sharing app’s highly anticipated debut on the Nasdaq, according to a company statement (pdf) to the Kuwaiti bourse.

Promoting competition is a key factor for economic growth.  It allows the companies to compete and discover better operating procedures to enhance their economic performance. A properly functioning competitive environment attracts private investors from around the world as it is the supreme goal for competition policy to eradicate barriers for entry.

Introduction There has been some recent interest from the GOE in certain aspects of the Compulsory Licensing (CL).  They are beginning to explore it inter alia, in the pharmaceutical industry.