In a bid to protect intellectual property rights (IPR), officials have called for a societal and cultural change in the country.
At a moot held at Avari Hotel on Saturday to discuss IPR and related issues, Government of Sindh Minister for Information Technology, Raza Haroon said that the main issue was that the change would have to be societal, as the laws regarding counterfeits in the country were being circumvented.
Kite Development & Management Co CEO Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan explained that many people were still purchasing medicines from local stalls, which indirectly encouraged the counterfeit drug producers. “The law states that one must purchase from a licensed chemist, who must provide a cash memo, along with data regarding the manufacturer. Despite the existence of laws, consumers purchase counterfeit products,” said Khan.
Intellectual Property Organis-ation Pakistan Chairman Mir Shahjahan Khetran said that prior to April 2005, the management of intellectual property in the country was fragmented between three government ministries, and was hurting the IT industry, as a result of which the government decided to establish an umbrella organisation to integrate, consolidate, and upgrade the IP infrastructure in Pakistan. Khetran also expressed disappointment at the absence of copyright laws to protect intellectual rights in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2011.
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