Business people and the government officials at customs, industries and copyright wings agreed that enforcement of the rules to protect intellectual property rights is crucial to keep foreign investments continuing.
Speaking at a dialogue on 鈥楽trengthening Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) framework, challenges and way forward鈥�, they also emphasised creating specialised manpower on IPR by awareness building through educational programmes.
American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh, Amcham in short, organised the dialogue presided over by Amcham president Syed Ershad Ahmed at a Dhaka hotel on Tuesday.
Intellectual property lawyer and founder of Bangladesh IP Forum, Hamidul Mishbah, said that several foreign investors and brands applied for their registration soon after the government enacted the The IPR Enforcement (Import-Export) Rules in 2019.
鈥楢lthough the rules have specific days to solve the application, more than 100 applicants have been waiting for approval for days. Because there are no designated officers in the customs houses to scrutinise the applications,鈥橦amidul said.
The IPR enforcement rules give full power to the customs authority to seize counterfeit products if the right holder informs.
Hamidul also recommended that the government amended the Copyright Act 2023, saying that the law is not compliant to the Berne Convention for Copyright.
Replying to Hamidul, National Board of Revenue member (customs, policy and ICT) Hossain Ahmed said that lack of coordination in the customs houses was behind the delay in processing the application.
He said that the government would launch the National Single Window, a means of digitisation of customs in Bangladesh, to handle customs related issues through a single digital platform.
He hinted that amendment to rules would include the electronic management of IPR related statistics.聽聽聽
Foreign Investors鈥� Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) president Zaved Akhtar said IPR is something that is relevant for the foreign investors.
He added that foreign investors bring not only money but also technology and innovations which must be protected from piracy.
He also reminded that the IPR related laws in Bangladesh have 鈥榤assive gaps regarding capability and enforcement issue鈥�.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ashraf Ahmed said businesses in Bangladesh are not able to protect their intellectual rights due to lack of law enforcement.
鈥楬ow does the government protect international patents?鈥�, he questioned.聽
Niraj Kumar, managing director of Colgate Palmolive ACI Bangladesh, said he faced delay in getting approval of the company鈥檚 trademark.
Professor Mamun Habib, from Independent University Bangladesh, recommended Masters programme in universities so that human resources are created to deal with laws on IPR, patent and聽 copyrights.
Al-Mamun M Rashel, AmCham treasurer, also a representative from Natco said foreign brands, sourcing products like apparels and foot wears from Bangladesh, have been facing difficulties in maintaining patent rights.聽
South Asia IP policy adviser Shilpi Jha, US Embassy in Bangladesh鈥檚 commercial counselor John Fay, Conveyor Logistics鈥� chairman Kabir Ahmed, several officials from industry, foreign affairs, and commerce ministries, brands representatives, and journalists also participated in the dialogue.
