Pakistan calls for an enabling environment to build respect for Intellectual Property

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GENEVA, Nov 29 (APP): Pakistan has called upon the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to create an enabling environment that protects the interests of developing countries, and also reduces incentives for counterfeiting and piracy in order to promote respect for Intellectual Property Rights.
Developing countries are generally accused by the developed countries of not taking adequate measures to combat piracy and counterfeiting without taking full account of their concerns and limitations.
Pakistan has presented a proposal on behalf of the Asian Group that it currently chairs. Explaining the initiative at a meeting chaired by the Director General of the WIPO, Pakistan's delegate Syed Ali Asad Gillani said that in order to promote respect for Intellectual Property (IP), there is a need to make IP work for development and broader societal interests.
Towards this end, it is necessary to create an enabling environment that promotes respect for IP by addressing the root causes of piracy and counterfeiting. Such an enabling environment should address issues such as high prices, licensing agreements and transfer of technology for educational materials and medicines while also developing appropriate enforcement mechanisms.
He noted that if differences in prices of original and pirated educational material remain exorbitant, no enforcement model to eliminate piracy will be sustainable.
Therefore, there was need to put in place an international mechanism that would ensure reduction in the prices of educational materials and medicines for developing countries, as well as promote licensing agreements and transfer of technology to the developing countries so that their access to educational materials and medicines at affordable prices can be enhanced.
Pakistan, on behalf of the Asian Group, has formally asked WIPO's Advisory Committee on Enforcement to "identify and define the elements of an enabling environment for promoting respect for IP" at its next session. The proposal has been welcomed by a number of developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.