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.
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