CHICAGO - Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (www.tagorg.com) was honored on October 24, 2007, by the IP Hall of Fame Academy (www.iphalloffame.com) as the first expert from outside of the G8 to join the world’s most prominent figures in Intellectual Property at a special ceremony at the Field Museum in Chicago.
This prestigious celebration hosted by Ocean Tomo Auctions, the leading Intellectual Capital Merchant Bank, awarded nine members of the global Intellectual Property (IP) community who joined last year’s 23 prominent personalities from government, business and academia for their outstanding contribution to the development of today’s Intellectual Property system.
This came as a result of five-month-long nomination and election process involving 300 IP candidates from around the world and culminating in a final vote conducted among members of the IP Hall of Fame Academy.
“I owe my induction into the IP Hall of Fame to my distinguished peers who voted me in. I owe my name to my colleagues in Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property who, through excellence, built AGIP into a global leader. I owe my recognition to my valued clients and associates all over the world who honored me with their confidence. I salute the Arab world community who supported my leadership of the Arab Society for Intellectual Property, the regional IP association. I am proud to be in such great company. I thank IAM magazine for launching this initiative to honor the IP profession worldwide,” Abu-Ghazaleh, who was voted at the top of the voting order, said at the ceremony.
With this election, Abu-Ghazaleh added another title to his selected honors such as: Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, France, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Canisius College, New York, Decoration of the Republic of Tunisia, Coat of Arms of the Kuwaiti Association of Accountants and Auditors, Gold Mercury International Award, Bahrain, Decoration of Independence of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The IP Hall of Fame was designed by the leading Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine as a not-for-profit exercise that focuses on individuals - from areas such as government, business, finance, law, academia, arts and science and technology - who have played a major role in the creation of today's IP system. The first inductees were announced in 2006 and included historical and present day figures: former US presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, celebrated French author Victor Hugo and inventor Thomas Edison, influential English jurist Sir Edward Coke, Commissioner of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Bruce Lehman and the first commissioner of the Japan Patent Office Korekiyo Takahashi.
In his election citation, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh was recognized as a major IP figure in the Arab world and beyond; founder of Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP), a leading global IP firm; author of the unique Arabic IP Dictionary and advisor to governments on drafting and enforcing IP laws; Founder and Chair of Arab Society for Intellectual Property (ASPIP), the regional professional society.