The Trendsetter

The National Intellectual Property Strategy initiative launched by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, which was approved by the Council of Ministers and came to serve and support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 that supports the renewed national economy based on the values of competitiveness and the consolidation and encouragement of a culture of innovation and creativity and its implications for the knowledge economy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its development and competition among global economies. As this initiative is considered one of the main pillars in creating and strengthening the competitive environment and providing a fertile environment that has an impact on investment and the economy in the Kingdom and the development of national enterprises by creating high-level jobs for Saudi creators and innovators and sponsoring them to regulate their rights and duties.

The intellectual property system in force in the Kingdom also came to protect the acquired rights of creativity and human thought and classified them to include “trademarks, industrial models, patents, copyright and related rights that are known as literary and artistic works, whether oral, written or anthropomorphic, such as trade names, books, lectures, plays, music, visual and audio works such as films and plays, including the rights of performers, instrumentalists, images, translations, maps, designs, plans, works related to geography, databases and other works.” The law also came to protect the intangible elements related to industrial and commercial projects known as (industrial property). Where the system was keen to raise community awareness of intellectual property and its objectives, and created a regulation for its registration, and established deterrent penalties against any violator of those rights.

Implications of intellectual property on the culture, heritage and quality of life sector:

Cinema has become an industry based on creativity, transforming literary creativity into a vital material and cultural product, which is known as literary and artistic works. (Films, series, novels, stories, poetry, books, music, photography, etc.) These works have great material and moral protection and rights that generate huge material returns for their owners and investors in this field and have brought legislation and regulations to protect those rights that reach 50 years long and the focus of many investors’ attention because of its rewarding financial returns. Therefore, the various sectors of culture such as (the names of cultural bodies) and those associated with tourism, sports and entertainment in the quality-of-life system that depends as an industry on the strength of enforcement and protection of intellectual property laws and compensation for any violations thereof.

Sports has a great impact on the seriousness of investment in various sports fields, and it achieves various investment opportunities, whether in related rights, job creation, or infrastructure development, including sponsorship rights, broadcasting through the media, and promoting goods and services that bear famous trademarks. Thus, there is an impact and convergence between intellectual property and the sectors of sport, tourism, media, industry, trade and investment so that they all form the work within an integrated system that is safe, homogenous and attractive to all and that achieves a culture of innovation and creativity and achieves rewarding material returns that are regulated and protected by the regulations that protect them.

The intellectual property system also contributed to increasing the market value of the brands owned by the organizers of sporting events at all local, regional and international levels, and created huge financial revenues through sponsorship deals, advertising or media promotion of these events.

The so-called “sports tourism” has become an echo of rapid growth and a destination to attract major investors in this vital and important sector locally, regionally and internationally. All watched what happened in our sister State of Qatar and its sponsorship of the World Cup events, which created a great positive and resounding resonance around the world. Tourism sports are no longer limited to football, as there are other events that are no less important, such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Formula 1, rally racing, hiking, climbing, skiing, and other various sports games and events that are inseparable from the tourism and investment sector and are closely linked to it directly and integratedly.

Benefiting from these emerging opportunities in the world of sports tourism has become important and extremely significant because of the remunerative returns it achieves and attracts large companies and people to invest in this field because there is legal and regulatory protection to organize these related sports and tourism events. It has created a sustainable economic environment that has a great impact on the desired development and ensures that everyone preserves their rights and creates a secure investment environment that achieves the Kingdom’s strategic objectives, which it aspires to and makes it a developed country in this area and is in line with the most important objectives of the National Strategic Initiative referred to above.

Perhaps the follower of the economic data on the recent World Cup in Qatar issued by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) explains how those legal rights can be reflected in large sums of money for the owners of brands and products. The move of Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo to Al-Nassr Club will be a very important example that could be a legal case study in the next article.