Sri Lanka seeks WIPO assistance for ‘building respect’ on IP
Sri Lanka is to seek technical and financial assistance from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for ‘building respect’ on IP, its enforcement and public awareness campaign in the country, officials said.
A country proposal for WIPO assistance for IP has been devised and it will be forwarded to the world organization through the Sri Lanka Intellectual Property office before October this year, Director, Sri Lanka Judges’ Institute, High Court Judge Ruwan Fernando told the Sunday Times.
Sri Lanka hopes that this proposal will be included in the WIPO Development agenda next year, in accordance with the assurance given by the Counsellor Building Respect for IP Division WIPO, Omar Katbi, he added.
Mr. Fernanado who is an expert on intellectual property law along with his fellow members of the Sri Lankan delegation who attended the 2-day Regional Workshop on Building Respect for Intellectual Property on February 13 in the Maldivian capital Male, has made a suggestion to authorities to formulate and implement a public outreach campaign to build respect for IP in the island. WIPO has already expressed willingness to help Sri Lanka through its vast in-house and external network of technical expertise and experience in the use of IP, its enforcement and public awareness campaign.
It is suggested that the proposal seeking technical assistance should address several key areas focusing on scrutinizing the capability of current and draft legislation with enforcement–related obligations, organizing specialized national and regional workshops, meetings, seminars, study visits and colloquia targeted at comprehensively addressing building respect for IP, and training courses on the enforcement of IP rights.
It has also proposed to conduct a study to analyze and assess the level of counterfeiting in Sri Lanka and to draw up a plan of action to enhance the effectiveness of programmes and tools to combat counterfeiting.
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