KARACHI, Oct 24: Legal experts have urged the government to strengthen intellectual property rights laws and called for effective legislation against counterfeiting, piracy and copyright violation.

They were speaking at a seminar on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights — Its Benefit for People and Economy of Pakistan was organized by Pakistan Industrial and Intellectual Property Rights Association (PIPRA) in collaboration with the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) at a hotel here on Friday.

They suggested that the existing laws on the subject matter be modified, the intellectual property department be streamlined on modern lines and qualified and trained people be appointed to ensure perfection.

The experts recommended that law-enforcement agencies should be empowered to conduct investigations and their report should be forwarded to the relevant inspectorate. Violators of the IPR laws should be liable to punishment under penal code, they added.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice Sayied Saeed Ashhad of the Sindh High Court said that the need for an effective enforcement of the IPR laws was felt when manuscripts were reprinted unscrupulously. More comprehensive laws were then enacted on international level to ensure protection to legal owners of intellectual properties. Such laws, he said, were aimed at checking piracy and violation of copyrights and patent with regard to the intellectual properties covering books, songs, paintings, etc.

Justice Ashhad did not agree with some of the speakers at the seminar that IPR laws had not been implemented effectively in Pakistan. He pointed out that not only the Sindh High Court, but the courts all over the country had been giving verdicts in such cases. He made mention of various judgments where justice was restored to aggrieved parties in copyrights cases.

President of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) Zafar A. Khan said that IPR laws in Pakistan were weak, inconsistent and overlapping. The ineffective implementation, he added, had been affecting growth of local industry which needed protection to brands and products through these laws.

Earlier, Chairman of the Consumer Protection Council Hameed Maker, President of the SHC Bar Muneer A. Malik, Chairman of the PIPRA Khawaja Mansoor Ahmed spoke to the participants.

Deputy Attorney General Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, Advocate General Sindh Anwar Mansoor Khan, office-bearers of the SHC Bar and many lawyers attended the seminar. —PPI