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PAJCCI organizes workshop on intellectual property, brand protection
[August 16, 2014]

PAJCCI organizes workshop on intellectual property, brand protection


(Daily Messenger (Pakistan) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PAJCCI) as a part of its series for holding informative sessions, organized a workshop on Intellectual Property, Brand Protection, Company Formation and US Legal System in collaboration with Ali & Associates.



To acquire global perspective on the said topic, Harold L Novick, who is a senior partner at Novick, Kim & Lee PLLC, was specially invited from USA. Other speakers included Karimullah Adeni, Partner, Ali & Associates and Khalid Hidayat Khan - Director General, Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and former Registrar Trademarks, IPO Pakistan.

Adeni, partner, Ali & Associates, after giving insight over IPR stature and challenges in Pakistan and Asian context, said that in recent years Trademark and IP issues were taken very seriously and improvement was observed in that sector in Pakistan.


He also established that well-known did not only engage themselves in getting their brands legally registered in Pakistan but a lot of them had properly registered their marks in countries of exports to tap the due benefits and escape the challenges in case their marks remain unregistered.

Nonetheless, the legal system regarding IP & Trademark in Pakistan would still take some time to fully settle as organizations were in process of understanding its importance.

Adeni emphasized that even though a lot of brands had registered their marks internationally but due to lack of marketing and communication from their end, consumers and other stakeholders were unaware of it. He also placed few examples of strong Pakistani brands facing immense difficulties in international market due to lack of awareness of their marks, this had though enhanced value of IPR and protection mechanisms across the corporate landscape of Pakistan.

Faiza, Secretary General, PAJCCI deliberated upon several challenges faced by Pakistani businesses in Afghanistan in context of IPR and Trademark registration. She also established that "First to register gives significant advantage to companies over those who are First to invent". Additionally, companies before entering the new territorial zones must protect their identity in that country by registering in order to avoid competitive takeover of their identities.

Khalid Hidayat Khan - Director General, Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and former Registrar Trademarks, IPO Pakistan delved upon the importance of TradeMark and IP registration that safeguards the brand identity and consequently enhances its visibility both locally and globally. He reiterated that challenges are variable in different territories and under his tenure as a Registrar; he had focussed greatly on awareness of the issues attached with the lack of registration especially before moving into a different zone.

Novick elaborated that in recent years, it was understood that patents was a great security against undue competition and timely, high-quality patents greatly promote investment in innovation and foster economic growth.

The competitive drive of a dynamic marketplace raises the introduction of new and improved products and processes, whose identities if are not protected can demoralize the sentiments of inventors.

In contrast, delays, uncertainty, and poor patent quality can create barriers to innovation. He emphasized that careful calibration and balancing of patent policy and competition policy can best promote incentives to innovate and secure the high end businesses. He shared global examples of powerful brands that at first also faced immense challenges in US - a developed market.

He also contrasted between the terminologies, context and procedure pertinent to IPR, trademark and brand protection across Pakistan and US.

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