RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) in collaboration with Small Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) organised an awareness session on intellectual property rights (IPRs) including trademarks, patents, industrial designs and copyrights for the business community here Tuesday.
Representatives from Intellectual Property Organization (IPO-Pakistan) Umme Salma and Saifullah Khan said that protection of intellectual property rights brought many benefits to the economy. A strong enforcement of IPRs will ensure protection of consumers and producers’ rights and also ensure better economic growth and competitiveness.
Salma said IPO-Pakistan was taking many initiatives to ensure better protection of IPRs and was working on developing a web portal to enable businessmen and other stakeholders to file online applications for registration of trademarks, patents and copyrights. Detailed presentations were given about patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights, geographical indicators etc. to the business community.
In his welcome address, Raja Amer Iqbal, President, RCCI said that better understanding of various components of intellectual property rights and using them effectively has become important for Pakistani entrepreneurs to compete the modern dynamics of the economy. He said that documentation of economy is vital for economic uplift. He urged the government especially IPO-Pakistan to introduce amendments in laws so that registration of Trade Mark can be made hassle free.
He said to remain ahead of competitors, the business entities have to introduce new products and services and they need an efficient and effective intellectual property system for protection of patents, trademarks and manufacturing secrets. He suggested launching a web portal and a mobile application for quick search for existing trademarks.
