Corporate sector organisations welcomed the decision to celebrate the World Intellectual Property Day and confirmed their participation in the 4th National IP Conference and Exhibition to be held at Islamabad during the last week of the current month.
They also assured their support in organising the events chalked out to mark the occasion.
The national and multinational organisations’ chief executive officers gave this assurance during a meeting with IPO-Pakistan Chairman and MNA Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi and IPO Director General Sajjad Ahmad Bhutta on Saturday.
The IPO chairman told executives ‘Visionary Innovators’ is the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) theme for the current year.
In accordance with this slogan, stakeholders, including educational institutions and research organisations have also been contracted to showcase their innovations, which will be promoted through an exhibition.
He said the IPO-Pakistan is committed to achieve excellence in the IP sector through quality training in different disciplines. He stated that qualified personnel from enforcement agencies and other partner organisations had been selected for imparting training on transplant manner.
Similarly, the IPO technical staff has also been providing equal opportunities of training. Afridi said a knowledge-based economy is imperative for national development and the socio-economic uplift of the country.
“Leading nations are concentrating on capturing the international market on the basis of their knowledge, management and intellectual property assets,” he added.
Analysing the current situation, he said due to the noncompliance of the IPR laws in the country, the investors are moving to other countries which has adversely affected Pakistan’s economy, industrial growth and the social fabric.
He added that the government is sincerely trying to address these issues with the objective to provide a conducive and business friendly environment under the protection of the IP laws. Afridi said the service delivery of the IP Registries has been significantly improved.
All the Registries have been automated and linked with the Lahore IPO Regional Office and the Islamabad IPO-HQs. Stakeholders now have the facility to file applications for the registration of patents, trade marks, service marks and copyrights at Lahore and Islamabad.
Afirid stated that an effective programme for providing registration facilities at the Chamber of Commerce and Industries had been launched and efforts were being made to expand the outreach programme with the assistance of the corporate sector.