Foreign Investors have sought enhanced protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) citing that they are critical for attracting and retaining foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country, revealed a survey of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI).
The OICCI IPR Survey 2020, conducted by the chamber during September-October 2020, reflected the views of foreign investors on the state of protection of intellectual property in Pakistan.
Despite country’s improvement on the Priority Watch List in US Trade Representative Special 301 Report of 2016, Pakistan’s IPR environment has failed to win the confidence of foreign investors and intellectual property owners, said OICCI President Haroon Rashid in a statement on Wednesday.
“We have failed to convince them that the country values IPR protection and will help create an enabling environment for innovation, creativity and all forms of intellectual property to attract foreign investment and retain talented and innovative individuals in the country,” he said.
The concerns of foreign investors are supported by the loss of revenue ranging from 5% to over 20% as reported by 42% of the respondents, he stressed.
Effective protection of intellectual property rights, which comprises of copyrights, patents and trademarks, plays a crucial role in attracting foreign investment in every country.
Respondents in the survey 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.
According to the statement, long drawn judicial proceedings, lack of awareness and appreciation about IPR and lengthy timelines for granting intellectual property rights were some of the key concerns highlighted in the survey.
Overall, 40% of the respondents indicated that it took one to three years’ time to resolve a standard IPR dispute.
Respondents also expressed concern over the penalty liable on IPR violation citing that it was insufficient to act as a deterrent and regretted that IP tribunals were not fully functional in Pakistan.
Currently, over 90% of OICCI members preferred reliance on their own resources for monitoring threat of IPR violations, it said.
However, intellectual property owners expressed desire to collaborate with the government to improve IPR regime in Pakistan.
Foreign investors who participated in the survey expected that Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan (IPOP), the IPR regulator of Pakistan, to take a lead in strengthening IPR regime in the country and fast tracking the process of IP registration.
They also expected IPOP to raise awareness regarding the importance of IPR and its impact for business and investment, upgrade skills and motivate law enforcement authorities to proactively arrest the abuse of IPR.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2020.
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