The government has decided to train the officials of the enforcement committee of the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) about the functions/duties of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Police and Customs to deal with piracy and counterfeiting of food items as well as pharmaceuticals.
The piracy and counterfeiting of food items and pharmaceuticals would be tackled on priority basis and members of enforcement agencies should act according to the law to apprehend the culprits who had been involved in these heinous crimes, said Sajjad Ahmad Bhutta, Director General Intellectual Property Organisation IPO-Pakistan. Bhutta while presiding over a meeting of the enforcement committee on Wednesday said that dealing with the piracy and counterfeiting is imperative to save the country's economy.
The representative of World Intellectual Property Organisation, Mansur Raza, Additional Director General FIA, Ali Qaswar, Second Secretary FBR, Azood ul Mehdi, SP Islamabad Traffic Police Mirvais Niaz, Executive Director IPO Umar Dad Afridi, Meesaq Arif, Dr Khurram, Asfand Ali, Nasir Ali Khan, Nasir Mehmood attended the meeting of the enforcement committee of the IPO. The participants of the meeting also gave suggestions for proper and strict implementation of laws in connection with implementation of IP rights.
The Director General IPO stressed effective co-ordination among all the enforcement agencies for prompt action against IP crimes and stated that with the assistance of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) special training courses would be held for the officers of enforcement agencies so that they could be aware about the laws and procedures for proper implementation.
He said similar procedure would also be devised in the academies of Law Enforcing Agencies so that training process could be continued for creating a new IP culture in the country. Mansoor Raza pointed out that inferior quality products were being produced on the name of quality and registered Trade Marks and this situation is alarming because people are suffering due to this unhealthy trend. He said special training modules have been evolved to improve the situation. He also mentioned the collapse of film and music industry due to piracy.