AmCham launches fresh IPR initiative

43 Police OICs receive training in Intellectual Property Rights

On an IPR enforcer education initiative by the American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka (AmCham), OICs of 43 Special Crimes Investigations Bureaus islandwide gathered at the National Police Academy for a five-day residential diploma  course on Intellectual Property Rights.

This program, designed by Dr. D.M. Karunaratne, former Director General of the National Intellectual Property Office, and other legal professionals, was aimed at familiarising various law enforcement officers on the existing law on IPR and its implementation.

Further to discussions that the AmCham President  and the IPR Committee had with the Inspector General of Police, it was agreed to continue this Diploma Course in the future for other specific officers of the Police Department.

The course was held from 3 to 7 December 2012 and AmCham President Vijaya Ratnayake and Attorney-at-Law Sudath Perera from the AmCham IPR Committee were present at the inauguration and certificate presentation ceremony.

Retired DIG and Attorney-at-Law Wijaya Amarasekera was the Course Coordinator and was joined by other members of the legal profession.

IPR compliance is an important factor for any developing country intending to attract Foreign Direct Investment and develop external trade. A considerable majority of AmCham members fall into the IT, apparel, banking and finance, hotel and tourism categories.

Having recognised the importance of IPR compliance for sustaining and developing businesses as far back as 2007, AmCham has been actively involved in IPR activities which included the award winning ‘Get Real’ public awareness campaign, introduction to IPR law courses for Judicial officers, Customs and Police officers and pharmacists in Colombo and the provinces, assisting in the setting up of the Anti-Piracy and Counterfeit Unit at the CID together with Business Software Alliance (BSA), etc.

In September this year AmCham released a booklet entitled ‘Guide to Intellectual Property Law in Sri Lanka’ for distribution free of charge to its members and other organisations. AmCham had also planned two more major activities for 2012.

One of these activities is this important training course for Police officers who are spread across the country. This will fulfil a long-awaited need for proper training of such officers to enable them to implement the Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003, which presently governs national law and administration relating to Intellectual property in Sri Lanka, protecting patents, trademarks and service marks, industrial design and copyrights.

The other is a public awareness campaign on IPR on the theme ‘Fake Kills,’ using both the print and electronic media aimed at educating the public on the use of fake pharmaceuticals, motor spare parts, computer software, and music and video. This campaign is expected to be continued over a one-year period in all three languages.

Sri Lanka and the US signed a Bilateral Agreement for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in 1991, and Sri Lanka is also a party to the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement in the World Trade Organization.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka has taken a key role in the past and shall continue to do so in the future, to facilitate the awareness and the enforcement of these agreements and the existing IPR law in Sri Lanka.