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were received, and the total number of patents registered in the country exceeded
6,100. Moreover, over 9,500 industrial designs have been registered. His

Excellency also highlighted the success of the Anti-Piracy Lab, launched by the Ministry last
year to block websites violating intellectual property and copyright laws, which

has successfully shut down 4,076 infringing websites.

Prominent role:

In a video address shown at the ceremony, Anita Huss, President of the IFRRO, affirmed the
federation’s support for the Emirates Reprographic Rights Management Association,
commending the association’s significant role in raising awareness of copyright and

intellectual property rights in the UAE and the wider region.

She said: “We are proud to be hosting the first International Reprographic Rights
Conference in the UAE under the patronage of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, with

whom I have always had the honour of engaging in fruitful discussions on the pivotal role of
intellectual property in supporting creative and cultural industries. We have continuously

explored ways to strengthen the collaboration between ERRA and IFRRO to establish a
robust foundation for global reprographic rights protection.”

Ambitious goals:

This conference underscores the UAE’s commitment to fostering a sustainable creative
environment and supporting global efforts to protect intellectual property rights, recognising

them as vital cultural and economic development components. With a clear set of ambitious
objectives, the conference aims to raise awareness of reprographic rights and their crucial

role in the creative economy, encouraging cooperation between collective management
organisations (CMOs), publishers, and authors while facilitating the exchange of knowledge
between regional and international reprographic rights experts. The conference will also

highlight best practices in rights protection and the publishing industry’s digital
transformation.

Panel discussions:

The conference agenda on its first day featured panel discussions centred around the

event’s key themes. Majd Al Shehhi led a session titled ‘Unauthorised Use and Its Impact on
the Income of Creative Works,’ which included contributions from His Excellency Dr
Abdulrahman Al Muaini, Assistant Undersecretary for the Intellectual Property Sector at the

Ministry of Economy; Jim Alexander, International Director of the Copyright Agency at