- Advertisement -
SIALKOT, Dec 18 (APP):A meeting of the IPR enforcement coordination committee was held at Model Customs Collectorate, Sambrial, on Monday.
IPO-Pakistan Chairperson Faruk Amil welcomed the participants and said IPR enforcement coordination is a critical function of his organisation, with five intellectual property tribunals currently functional at Islamabad, Karachi, Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Quetta.
IP tribunals are specialized courts to hear IP infringement cases. The tribunals at Karachi, Sialkot and Islamabad were established in December, 2014 while at Quetta and Rawalpindi were established on August 1, 2023, he added.
He added that 11 IP Enforcement Coordination Committees were functional at Islamabad, Karachi, Sialkot, Peshawar, Quetta, Gilgit, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sukkur and Hyderabad.
“Anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting cells are functional at Islamabad, Karachi and Sialkot, however, there is a need to strengthen IPR enforcement in Sialkot and other cities. IPO-Pakistan is responsible for receiving complaints from IP right holders and forward the complaints to LEAs for necessary action,” he added.
He said, “IPO-Pakistan developed guidelines for police, FIA and customs regarding IPR enforcement actions in the light of IP laws.” Speaking about future plans, the chairperson said that an online complaint receiving system would be available shortly.
“IPO is working to develop a dashboard in coordination with PITB. Notification and implementation of IPR Enforcement Rules is also part of our future plans as approval in principle was granted by the IPO Policy Board recently,” he maintained.
The Secretary General, SCCI, addressing the participants highlighted that the Sialkot chamber was an apex body of the business community in the area which is doing its level best to protect the interests of businessmen in close coordination with government authorities.
He appreciated the initiatives of IPO-Pakistan for permanent membership of chambers of commerce and industry on the panel of IPR Enforcement Coordination Committees. He ensured full support from the SCCI for objectives of development of genuine businesses in the country and to fight against piracy and counterfeiting.
Muhammad Ismail, Director Enforcement, presented a detailed presentation in which certain important topics related to Intellectual Property Management in Pakistan along with a brief introduction of core functions of IPO-Pakistan were presented. Furthermore, functions and responsibilities of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) Enforcement Coordination Committees (ECCs) were also presented.
Important points discussed during the meeting were problems faced by the agencies and business community in pursuing the complaints; response mechanism from the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), capacity building of LEAs; Online system of IPR Enforcement complaints and draft IPR Enforcement Rules.
The initiative for devising an online complaint system by IPO-Pakistan was appreciated by all members. It was suggested by the participants that more IP tribunals may be established as the complainants and investigation officers had to move to Islamabad, Sialkot and Karachi from all over Pakistan for litigation of IP cases.
It was also proposed that capacity building programs for LEAs and awareness/information sessions for business community may be convened on a regular basis.
The draft of the IPR enforcement rules was also presented in the meeting. Participants from different Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) appreciated the initiative and agreed to submit comments after consulting their respective departments.
The meeting was chaired by Faruk Amil, Chairperson IPO-Pakistan, and attended by Ms. Saima Aftab, Collector Pakistan Customs, Ms. Maida Noor Cheema, Regional Director PEMRA, Raza Hussain, DSP Punjab Police, Rizwan Saeed, Deputy Director, Punjab Food Authority and others.