RIYADH, 19th August, 2024 (WAM) -- The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) has released its 2023 report on enforcement of intellectual property rights, which shows that the authority received over 2,680 complaints related to copyrights, including regarding trademarks.
Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday that the growing awareness of the need to adhere to laws and regulations that govern the ownership, use, and protection of intellectual property has contributed to a 50 percent increase in the total number of complaints in 2023. Trademark complaints rose by 73 percent, and copyright complaints by 30 percent.
Over 1,000 inspection tours of commercial establishments were conducted in 42 cities and governorates in the Kingdom, based on complaints from copyrights holders.
Mystery shoppers
SAIP said that it continues to carry out the mystery shopper programme, which plays a vital role in enforcing compliance with intellectual property rights. The enforcement team continuously monitors and surveys commercial and electronic markets, identifying violations and gathering data on commercial establishments.
The mystery shoppers made over 4,700 visits to more than 70 malls in 17 cities and governorates, and visited over 6,000 websites and online stores. The report further revealed that 422 suspicious shipments were processed, with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority reporting that 60 percent of the shipments were found to have violated the intellectual property laws and regulations.
More than 3.4 million products violating intellectual property regulations failed to receive clearance at various border crossings.