Islamic Finance as a Vehicle to Promote Improved Intellectual Property Rights in the Gulf Cooperation Council

The purpose of this article is to assess how Islamic finance can act
as a vehicle to enhance the current intellectual property rights regime in the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Islamic finance has developed within the
constraints of sharia law and has been a growth sector for the GCC. This
article will identify the main principles of Islamic finance that contribute to
the success of Islamic finance, which can enhance intellectual property
protection in the GCC. The main sharia-compliant areas to be considered are
musharaka, mudaraba, murabaha, takaful, istisna, ijara, salam and sukuk.
The article will outline the founding principles of Islamic finance, the
governance of sharia boards, development of Islamic finance in the individual
GCC states, different frameworks of sharia-compliant investment products and
the impact of intellectual property rights on the varying Islamic finance investment tools. Furthermore, the article will discuss an integrated approach
to intellectual property rights which learns lessons from the Islamic finance
sector in relation to infrastructure, regulation and sharia compliance. The
lessons learnt from Islamic finance will inform the overall framework of
recommendations for an Islamic intellectual property model. The use of Islamic finance as a vehicle to promote better intellectual property rights in
terms of defining a new intellectual property approach is novel. It is aimed at
spearheading further research in this area, and it will form a part of the
overall integrated approach proposals to intellectual property protection in
the GCC and beyond.