While counterfeiting continues to flourish all over the world and anti-competitive practices are wreaking havoc in a large part of foreign markets, Tunisian exporting companies are called upon, more than ever, to protect their products. This protection inevitably involves trademark registration both nationally and internationally. In competing countries, this approach is now essential.

The second monthly meeting, part of the 2024 export mornings, had the theme “International brand protection: what steps and tools to export safely”. Recently organized at the Export Promotion Center (Cepex), this monthly meeting aims to highlight a major issue for exporting companies, namely the protection of products once morest counterfeiting and anti-competitive practices. “Competition in international markets which are increasingly open has continued to grow. This is why every company keen to preserve its positioning in these markets must register its brand internationally,” declared Lazhar Bennour, Director General of Economic and Commercial Cooperation at the Ministry of Trade and Export Development.

All sectors are affected
He added that in recent years, several Tunisian companies have been victims of counterfeiting and anti-competitive practices. This is why they must register their trademarks internationally.
And if they have the means, it is recommended to do so with the World Intellectual Property Organization, a UN organization headquartered in Geneva. “Brands must protect themselves, especially if they intend to penetrate new markets. They must be aware that several practices that violate the rules of fair competition, such as counterfeiting, are proliferating in many markets today. Several Tunisian brands have, moreover, paid the price,” he said. And the manager added: “Trademark registration is a culture. At the national level, it is done through recourse to the National Institute of Standardization and Industrial Property (Innorpi). Contrary to what many think, registering a trademark is not very expensive, especially since it is an investment that will allow the company to consolidate its position in certain markets. Our main asset, we Tunisians, is creativity and innovation. We must then protect our brands, which are the fruit of this creativity.”
According to Bennour, all companies, all sectors combined, are called upon to register their trademarks. But certain sectors are more exposed to the risks of counterfeiting, such as the automotive and mechanical components industry, textiles, the food industry and especially the service sector. The manager, in this sense, affirmed that Tunisian consulting firms have every interest in registering their studies, given that several of them have been extorted in the past.

Be careful if you want to tackle a new market
For his part, Mourad Ben Hassine, CEO of Cepex, indicated that Tunisia has a significant legislative arsenal which makes it possible to protect invention patents and trademarks. He indicated that Cepex supports companies in their registration procedures and also grants, through the export promotion fund (Foprodex), financial advantages to encourage them to register their brands. He also specified that they can call on specialists to properly carry out the necessary procedures. Ben Hassine added that several Tunisian companies have been victims of counterfeiting. In European and North American markets, products are generally protected, but in other markets the goods and services traded may be at risk, he explains.

Several Tunisian companies have been victims of counterfeiting
Haroun Grami, deputy director of the Industrial Property department at Innorpi, said that Tunisia’s accession, in 2013, to the Madrid protocol relating to the international registration of trademarks constitutes an advantage for Tunisian exporting companies. , since this will allow them to facilitate registration procedures and above all reduce the associated costs. Today, only two hundred Tunisian companies have registered their brands with Innorpi. This figure is expected to increase, particularly in the face of growing counterfeiting threats. Delivering his testimony, Karim Belghith, commercial director within an industrial company specializing in the manufacture of school notebooks, recounted the adventures experienced by the company in 2011, when the brand was enjoying great success on the Moroccan market. The Tunisian brand was registered, by a competitor, in Morocco. The rival company’s maneuver bore fruit: the exported notebooks were seized and almost incinerated. Overnight, the Tunisian brand was accused of counterfeiting. “We were also a victim of the fact that Tunisia was not, at that time, a member of the Madrid Convention. We were forced to change the name of our product,” he certified. He called on all companies to register their trademarks, especially internationally.