Despite constituting a regulatory body mandated to improve and implement Intellectual Property (IP) Laws, the menace of counterfeiting and piracy continues to ruin the local economy, inflicting heavy loss of over Rs 10 billion annually to the national kitty, and damage to legitimate businesses.
"Brands and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are the principal assets of business enterprises. Violation of these rights negatively impact legal business halting the overall growth of national economy," Amar Naseer, legal adviser & company secretary, Unilever Pakistan, said this while addressing a workshop on "Role of Media in Projecting Legal Business Practices & IPRs in Pakistan".
The workshop was jointly organised by Unilever Pakistan and ACIF (Anti-Counterfeit & Infringement Forum), in Islamabad.
ACIF is a non-profit alliance of business organisations working to eradicate the menace of counterfeiting, infringement and piracy of IPRs. It creates awareness on these issues and strives to protect the consumer rights by supporting government efforts and actions for strengthening the IP regime in the country.
Besides Amar Naseer, ACIF vice chairman Asmat Saleem, Mohammad Saleem Lali, Unilever Pakistan, renowned literary figure Attaul Haq Qasmi and columnist Javed Chaudhry spoke on the occasion highlighting the state of enforcement of IP laws in Pakistan and the significant role of media in creating awareness about this critical issue.
Amar Naseer said that the national media is the main player in highlighting the issues, including the menace of IPRs' violations, which is hampering the development of national industry. There is an urgent need to widen the scope of public awareness about the IP laws and their continued violations so that consumers are convinced not to purchase counterfeited brands and pirated products. The national media can guide as well as refine the opinions at both social and official level through its suggestive role, he maintained.
He also appreciated the establishment of Intellectual Property Organisation and stressed the need for more concerted efforts to ensure strict implementation of IP laws so that the curses of counterfeiting and piracy are countered effectively.
The speakers mentioned that counterfeiting and violations of IPRs undercut the quality image of real brands, consumer loses confidence in brands and products, national reputation is damaged in addition to a heavy loss of over Rs 10 billion annually to the national kitty in terms of tax evasion alone. Various famous consumer brands loose legitimate sales in the range of 7 to 20pc. The illegitimate trade in counterfeits and infringed products inflicts loss of over Rs 1.5 billion annually to the oil & lubricants industry, Rs 1.3 billion annual revenue loss to the government from the counterfeited cigarettes, and books & publishing industry faces Rs 40 million losses every year. The participants also noted that threats posed to consumer safety and health due to substandard counterfeit products need immediate attention and action.
Literary figure Attaul Haq Qasmi told participants of the workshop that copyright violators have not spared even literature and other creative works.