Because of smuggling, counterfeiting, and violation of intellectual property rights, foreign companies incur a loss of Rs. 757 billion every year in Pakistan. This was revealed by President of Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), Shazia Syed, at the launch of OICCI’s maiden manual on the “Evolution of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Pakistan: OICCI’s Perspective”. Chairman of Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan (IPO), Mujeeb Khan, chaired the ceremony.
The manual contains an extensive view of the laws and their application regarding copyrights, patents, and trademark in Pakistan. “The OICCI IPR manual will go a long way to educate investors, innovators as well as regulators on various aspects of intellectual property right laws in Pakistan,” said the OICCI president.
“An effective IPR regime, which ensures protection for innovators and investors, is pivotal for economic growth acting as one of the key factors in attracting foreign direct investment into the country,” she said.
Syed added that a recently conducted survey of estimated financial impact from smuggling, counterfeiting, and violation of IPR revealed a loss of around 14 percent of the OICCI members’ total revenue, Rs. 757 billion in 2018.
She said that this loss caused an annual tax revenue loss of around Rs. 240 billion to the national exchequer. She added that OICCI believes that the IPR laws in Pakistan are comprehensive and in line with the international standards.
“OICCI is confident that the IPR manual will be a significant milestone in boosting awareness among relevant stakeholders about the existing IPR laws and the measures taken by the government to not only combat IPR issues but also strengthen the IPR regime in Pakistan,” said Syed.
Mujeeb Khan said that the OICCI IPR manual will strengthen the IP regime and educate the stakeholders about their IP rights.
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