The Center for International Studies in Intellectual Property (CEIPI) at the University of Strasbourg (Unistra) and the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI France) are strengthening their international partnership. The two institutions are proud to announce the signing, on 16 September 2026, of an agreement to implement a training programme for the Ministry of Economy and Tourism of the United Arab Emirates (MOET).
This training programme has been specially designed to meet the needs of the MOET’s teams. It aims to equip them with all the theoretical knowledge and practical skills essential for examining patent applications.
Upon completion of the programme, trainees will be able to examine patent applications independently and make decisions as part of the examination procedure.
Spanning a period of five weeks, this comprehensive training programme will take place in Paris from November 2026. It will draw on the joint expertise of CEIPI and the INPI to offer trainees first-class support, combining academic excellence with practical know-how in the field of industrial property.
This initiative illustrates the ongoing commitment of CEIPI and the INPI to promoting the highest international standards in intellectual property protection and to strengthening bilateral cooperation between France and the United Arab Emirates, which began in 2018 with the signing of the first intellectual property cooperation agreement between the MOET and the French Ministry of the Economy. In 2018, a second agreement was signed between the MOET and the INPI. Three action plans were signed in 2018, 2019 and 2024 to implement this latest agreement. One of the key areas of cooperation under the action plan is training. The current training programme for MOET examiners forms part of this initiative.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Mr Pascal Faure, Director General of the INPI, Mr Yann Basire, Director General of the CEIPI, and His Excellency Mr Juma Mohammed Al Kait, Assistant Under-Secretary for Foreign Trade Affairs at the Ministry of Economy and Tourism of the United Arab Emirates.
Present at the ceremony on behalf of the INPI were: Mr Jérémie Fénichel, Director of Industrial Property and International Affairs; Ms Céline Boisseau, Head of the INPI’s International Network; and Ms Jinane Kabbara, Regional IP Adviser for Western Eurasia and the Middle East. Representing the MOET were HE Dr Abdelrahman AlMuaini, Deputy Under-Secretary for Intellectual Property; Ms Athari Al Hammadi, Director of the Department of Innovation Development and Industrial Property; Ms Marwa Al Harmoodi, Acting Head of the Industrial Property Registration and Inspection Section; and, on behalf of CEIPI: Ms Ionela Asandulesei, Head of International Relations, Partnerships and Projects.
