Rights And Patents

IN TODAY'S fast-paced globalised world trade, it is inconceivable that a country can gets its rightful share of benefits if it does not have enough legal instruments to protect the intellectual property rights of its citizens. Globalisation is already here. And countries like Nepal have little chance of getting the maximum advantages out of the new economic order if it is not well prepared to be part of it. Having a good legal mechanism to protect its intellectual property rights (IPRs) is a sine qua non before the country can hope to capitalise on the free trade. With Nepal doing its best to join the World Trade Organisation, addressing the issues of IPRs has become all the more urgent. But sadly, as speakers at a seminar on IPRs the other day pointed out, it is yet to be near having related legislations to protect copyrights, patents and trademarks. The existing Patent and Trademark Act 1965 and the Copyrights Act 2002, brought in after much lobbying by copyright proponents over the years, are not sufficient to protect the rights of ownership of an individual's creations. It is not that Nepal does not have enough to protect in this regard. Its immense biodiversity and cultural heritage are rivaled by few countries in the world. The potentials of such natural and cultural wealth for the country's economic growth are substantial.

But these treasures and resources will not mean much if well-founded IPR and patent rights system are not in place. Patenting its biodiversity and natural resources is possible only when ownership of products is managed well. Hence, the importance of formulating IPR and patent rights laws. An American expert on IPRs emphasised this strongly during a chat with mediapersons and legal experts on Thursday. Legal experts concur that the existing Nepalese legal provisions regarding protection of trademarks, patents and copyrights are just inadequate and impractical in the increasingly complex world trade regime. Additionally, the general lack of awareness about intellectual property rights also constitutes a challenge in ensuring their protection. For, the citizens, if oblivious to such rights, would not know how to protect such rights that are legitimately theirs. Thus, an absence of awareness about such rights as well as that of a sufficient slew of domestic laws make for an unfortunate combination that is guaranteed to see many of Nepal's products vulnerable to unscrupulous international predators scouring the globe to patent what does not belong to them. Actually, that is already happening with some of Nepal's rich flora. A solid legal system to protect IPRs and patent rights must be in place. There is no time to lose.

The Supply Aspect

THE approaches made for timely and cost effective distribution of goods to the hinterlands is one of the indicators of the state of governance in any country. This yardstick is used to judge the state of governance after assessing whether people living in the remote areas have been receiving the essential commodities as and when they need them. Developing countries are often sneered at for failing to ensure good governance. The reason is that they lack a full proof mechanism to ensure effective distribution of goods and services. When people do not get the services they direly need, they are bound to cry foul against the system thereby portraying a bad image of the country in the international arena. Hence an effective distribution system is the hallmark of good governance. Countries with rugged terrains and poor transportation networks always come under the pressure from consumers to ensure the smooth flow of goods. The same holds true for Nepal.

In the case of Nepal, we often come across news headlines that talk about the shortage of food, medicine and fuel in the remote hilly districts. Even when the whole essence of 'social justice' is to accord priority to the people who are living in the remote parts devoid of facilities for a better life the mismanagement that always comes with irregular supply of goods and services to those districts needs to be given a broader thought. Sometimes it is mismanagement and at other times it is rampant misappropriation in public enterprises that contribute to disrupt the social equilibrium in the remote hills. In this backdrop, the need for an effective and integrated programme to provide smooth supplies in fair prices for the basic needs in the remote hills has been rightly pointed out by Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Mahesh Lal Pradhan. Minister Pradhan made the observation while addressing the second four-monthly review of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies for the fiscal year 2059 BS/ 60 BS. The government's goal to ensure smooth supply of goods to the remote hills at fair prices would only be met when it exercises a mechanism to monitor the activities of the public enterprises at various levels. Constant monitoring of the stocks and timely assessment of the demands would certainly help to maintain a perpetual supply of goods to the remote districts.