My Interest in the Gulf Cooperation Countries















Jane Lambert

The blockade of Qatar by three of its partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council which I discussed in How will the Blockade of Qatar affect IP Law in the GCC Countries? 7 June NIPC Gulf reminds us that those countries have always been important to the United Kingdom. We sell a lot of goods am services to them and they supply us with oil and gas.  We have invested heavily in their economies and they have invested in ours. Those countries would have become even more important to us in that they would have been looking to us and other advanced countries to help them develop new industries and technologies for when the oil runs out and we would have been looking to do more business with them after Brexit.

Because of the importance of this region to the UK, I started some years ago the NIPC Gulf blog which follows legal developments in the region that are likely to affect this country and vice versa.  As I emphasize in the blog;s About page, NIPC Gulf is not a blog on comparative law but on English law in so far as it relates to trade with or investment in or from the Gulf.

English law does have long tentacles for many transactions with the region are governed by English law.  Also, English law had taken root in some of the Gulf states in that the Abu Dhabi Global Markets, Dubai International Financial Centre and the Qatar Financial Centre have laws modelled on British statutes or codifying English law which are enforced by English speaking common law courts staffed largely by judges from the UK and other Commonwealth countries before which any member of the English Bat can easily qualify for rights of audience.

Over the years I have found myself advising businesses from the Gulf that wish to acquire legal protection for their intellectual assets in the UK or take licences from British IP owners and representing in the English courts parties to transactions that took place in the Gulf (see the Services page of the NIPC Gulf blog). Sometimes a client has required advice on local law and when that happens I refer him or her to my connections in the region together with advice on how and where to find local legal advice so that the client always has a choice of names wherever possible.

Should anyone wish to discuss this post, the consequences for the UK of the blockade of Qatar or the legal issues arising from the region generally, he or she should call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during British office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

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