Parallel Rights Agreement

Such conduct does not infringe trade mark rights, since the principle of exhaustion applies: after the first sale within an EU or EEA Member State, a rightholder cannot oppose the further marketing of its products. Nor is such conduct contrary to unfair competition law – since a sales ban is not valid, the breach of such a prohibition by a third party does not encroach on the principles of fair commercial practice. A violation of a parallel import agreement between the parties is carried out with the aim of making higher profits due to price differences between the same products. Where such an infringement occurs, it shall violate the provisions on international licensing and distribution agreed between the licensee and the right holder. It is therefore essential to observe where the goods are marketed and to prohibit the marketing of goods in countries prohibited by the right holder. In accordance with Article 37 of the Law on Patents of the Kingdom of Jordan (Law No. 32 of 1999 as amended by Provisional Law No. 71 of 2001); The law prohibits any person from importing materials or goods from third parties in an unauthorized manner if the owner of the patent rights enjoys their protection. However, if such importation is legal, the person importing such materials or goods must respect the principles of commercial competition.

Article 37 also obliges the importing person to take into account the economic value of the patent in question. Under Jordanian law, patent rights are subject to international exhaustion, but the patent owner has the right to object if the parallel importation does not comply with the principles of commercial competition. The rightholder who has registered a trademark in the territory of Qatar does not have the right to take legal action against parallel imports. However, in accordance with their agency laws, the rights holder may take action against an unauthorized agent. In addition, the parallel importation of copyrighted material is prohibited in Saudi Arabia. KSA`s copyright law prohibits the import and export of copies that are not authorized for distribution, any unauthorized sale, import or export is considered a violation of copyright law. In addition, copies of printed matter and computer programs may be distributed subject to prior authorization by the Ministry of Culture and Information. An owner of an intellectual property right holds the exclusive rights to exploit his property. He is also entitled to be protected by such laws in the country where such protection is granted to him.

The doctrine of exhaustion or the doctrine of first sale is in fact an exception to this rule and implies the exhaustion of the rights of the holder as soon as he has consented to the legitimate sale of the products covered by the intellectual property rights he holds. A form of monitoring and a system of sanctions should be put in place to allow the rightholder to act against providers who breach the conditions and to underline the closed nature of the network. However, the proprietor of the mark must ensure that any party that meets the specified requirements can participate; The requirements must therefore be carefully weighed and formulated accurately. It is recommended that a right holder follow this path: the United Arab Emirates is no stranger to the phenomenon of parallel imports. However, the concept of parallel importation is not recognized by the UAE`s trademark laws. Therefore, to stop parallel imports into the country, agency laws can be enforced to ban them. The Agency`s laws give an agent the exclusive right to sell within a country, in accordance with the contractual terms concluded. In order to be eligible for recourse under this Law, the agency contract should be registered with the Ministry of the Economy, the absence of which may invalidate the agreement. . . .


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