Foreign investors seek protection of intellectual property rights

LAHORE: The Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) has announced the key findings of its latest Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) survey. 

The OICCI IPR Survey 2020 conducted during September-October reflects the assessment of the foreign investors on the state of intellectual property protection in Pakistan. 

Effective protection of IPR consisting of Copyrights, Patents and Trade Mark is critical for attracting and retaining FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in the country. 

OICCI IPR Survey 2020 respondents have expressed concern that IPR protection does not attract due attention from some key stakeholders, including the government, Law enforcement authorities (LEA), media and even the consumers.

Long drawn judicial proceedings, lack of awareness and appreciation about IPR, and lengthy timelines for granting IP rights were some of the key concerns highlighted in the survey. Overall 40pc of the respondents indicated that it takes 1 to 3 years to resolve a standard IPR dispute. 

Respondents also expressed concern regarding the penalty on IPR violation being insufficient to act as a deterrent and the IP Tribunals not being fully functional. 

Currently, over 90pc of the OICCI members prefer reliance on their own resources for monitoring threat of IPR violations. However, there is a great desire for all the IP owners to work in partnership with the government authorities for a better IPR regime in Pakistan.

Foreign investors participating in the survey expect that IPR regulator in Pakistan, Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan (IPOP), would take the lead in strengthening IPR regime in Pakistan; automate and fast track process of registering IP; massively promote awareness on the importance of IPR and its impact for investment; upgrade skills and motivate LEA to proactively arrest the abuse of IPR. 

Commenting on the survey results, OICCI President Haroon Rashid expressed concern that, “Despite some improvement in the Priority Watch list in United States Trade Representative (USTR) Special 301 Report of 2016, Pakistan's IPR environment has failed to instil a sense of confidence among the foreign investors and IP owners, that the country values IPR protection and will help create an enabling environment for innovation, creativity and all forms of IP so as to attract FDI and retain talented and innovative individuals in the country.”

He added that foreign investors’ concerns are supported by the loss of revenue ranging from 5pc to over 20pc reported by 42pc of the respondents.