Dubai Customs has launched the 8th edition of its IPR Awards for the year 2014-2015. Organized by DC in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and Knowledge and Human Developmnet Authority, the awards program targets public and private academic institutions, including schools, colleges and universities all across the UAE.

Yousuf Ozair Mubarak, director of the IPR Department at Dubai Customs, said: "Dubai Customs Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Awards for schools and universities is aimed at instilling the spirit of competition among the applicants and raising their awareness of intellectual property rights. Hence, we can disseminate this culture to the younger generations, so as to engage the largest possible segment of our community in addressing piracy, counterfeiting and commercial fraud.

Since its initiation in 2007, the awards brought together 111 schools from all over the country, and 16 universities joined its official competition for the last three editions from 2010 to 2012. More than 100,000 students benefited from Dubai Customs IPR educational campaigns conducted as part of the awards program, he added.

The awards policy allows participation to all general education students in schools nationwide, starting from grade 6 to grade 12, as well as to public and private university students in all academic stages. The selected team from each school and university should prepare and execute a project relevant to IPR.

The teams taking part in the competition strive to enhance their chances to win the award through various activities that help spreading the concept of intellectual property, whether by organizing IPR awareness-raising visits, trips, lectures, seminars and workshops, or by promoting the cause on social media.

The awards jury assesses submitted projects on the basis of their satisfying the requirements of the competition and adopted criteria, in addition to how the project can have a concrete economic impact in the United Arab Emirates and its capacity to support innovation and creativity as well as contribute to nurturing education and awareness.
The winners of the first three positions at school and university levels are honored at the ceremony hosted by Dubai Customs on the World Intellectual Property Day on April 26th of each year.