IPR enforcement: US embassy lauds collaboration between IPO-Pakistan, LEAs

The US Embassy has appreciated the collaboration between Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO-Pakistan) and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in the field of IPR enforcement and expressed the confidence that this association would be fruitful for overcoming issues of counterfeiting and piracy in an effective manner.

The appreciation came during the IPR Enforcement Coordination Committee meeting held at IPO-Pakistan Headquarter. Executive Director, Meesaq Arif, IPO-Pakistan chaired the meeting. The US delegation included Ms Peggy J Walker, Economic Counsellor and Michael D Boven, Economic Affiars Officer. Representatives of LEAs from Pakistan Customs, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Islamabad Police, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) attended the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Meesaq Arif said that IPO-Pakistan was fully aware of the importance of IPR enforcement and that was why it was following a pro-active approach in overcoming enforcement issues. He apprised that due to close coordination between IPO-Pakistan and LEAs, enforcement meetings have been organised in 10 different cities from time to time.

He informed the meeting that IPO-Pakistan was going to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for a better coordination. The committee termed counterfeiting and piracy a crime against innovation and creativity and expressed the resolve that the issue would be dealt relentlessly and all out efforts would be made for the development of genuine businesses in the country.

The US Embassy appreciated the efforts of IPO-Pakistan and LEAs in the field of enforcement and offered any kind of technical support to further improve their performance. The DRAP representative was of the view that instead of individual trainings, collective trainings will be more beneficial for all the LEAs. Muhammad Ismail, Director Enforcement apprised the meeting about the progress of previous meetings and the future vision.