How important are the intellectual property of our country? This seems like an academic question. Why, a lot of business is carried out in the name of intellectual property. There is an entire IP industry, flourishing as it may seem. Trademark and patent attorneys and other IP lawyers form only a substantial part of that industry, but of course, this sector is not limited to the legal practitioners in it. It goes far beyond to reach out to serve the interests of businesses, inventors, artists, and the literati.
So, how important is this industry? How important are the intellectual property of this country?
I ask this question because if you look at the way this sector is officially being handled in recent past, it seems it is not so important. At least, the importance assigned to it by the officialdom is quite negligible. A task that the world had finished long time ago, in fact, before the turn of the millennium, the task of computerizing our IP record, is still unfinished here. Our trademark registry still has a lot of record that is only papers held in cardboard folders and stacked in record rooms that occupy spaces in the offices. Records that may take only a few gigabytes on a small flash drive take up spaces that must be freed of such congestions. No wonder, a lot of people are fighting over frivolous issues with each other because relevant facts are not readily available. The concerned records are not easily accessible.
Just look at the docket of any IP tribunal. A large number of cases filed should not have been there in the first place. There are there, burdening the system, only because there is no system in place. With all the lip service that is being rendered to this sector, the result is that the change that one expected long ago is still illusive.
There is no rocket science here. All we need is just a small refocusing of our priorities. Intellectual property means recognition to our industry and trade, not just locally but internationally as well. It means respect for our business and prestige for our nation. It means revenue.
Are we interested in making money with reasonable respect? How important is the concept of a fruitfully positive image of our economy in the comity of nations? How important are the intellectual property of this country?
The government must reprioritize its directions. It must understand that with the economy in the conditions it is today, the private sector can help only if it does not have to drag its feet for matters as frivolous as one finds in our tribunals. The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan has only recently put its record online. But is it the complete record? How accurate is this website, is the question on everybody’s lips. There are still a number of cases that are tied to the data not easily accessible because it is still not on computers or is not accurate. We need to understand the importance of the time, effort, resources, and energy lost in pursuing correct information.
But do we understand that intellectual property cases are important for us? How important are the intellectual property of this country?
