BUSINESS BRIEF: PAKISTAN
“THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES INCLUDE NON-USE OF THE TRADEMARK WITHIN THE STIPULATED PERIOD OF FIVE YEARS AFTER THE MARK HAS BEEN PUT ON THE TRADEMARK REGISTER.”
Tere is also counterfeiting in the textile and confectionery industries. Due to pirated CDs and DVDs of music and films being easily available, the entertainment sector is also under threat.
What are the best strategies for dealing with the problem? Te best strategy is to publish a cautionary notice about counterfeit goods in leading newspapers to make people aware of counterfeit goods that are circulating in the market. If the counterfeit goods are being imported, the customs department may be notified as it may exercise its power to confiscate the counterfeits.
How can public-private partnerships to tackle counterfeiting be improved? Enforcement is mainly through the courts, but IP offices may involve the private sector to develop processes designed to help protect IP.
Copyright What are the key challenges to copyright owners in your jurisdiction? Te greatest challenges copyright owners have to deal with are piracy, infringement and counterfeiting. Unauthorised use of copyrighted material online including illegal sharing or downloading of material is also a key challenge.
How should people ensure they are protected against copyright infringement? Registration of copyright is not mandatory in Pakistan, as copyright vests from the moment the work is created and recorded in a tangible form. However, a certificate of
copyright registration in a work shall be prima facie
www.worldipreview.com World Intellectual Property Review Annual 2015 107
evidence in a court that the owner named in the certificate owns the copyright to the work.
What is the best way to deal with infringement? Te best way to deal with infringement is to file a lawsuit in the relevant courts. Special remedies for copyright infringement may also be taken if the copyright owner is unable to institute immediate regular legal proceedings by
applying to the court for immediate
provisional orders to prevent infringement. However, before taking legal action, the owner of the copyright may send a cease-and-desist letter to the infringer.
General Are there any other IP developments we should know about? Many trademark infringement matters have been taken for action to the Competition Commission of Pakistan under the Competition Act.
Saira Osman Bhatty is an associate at Bharucha & Co. She is an enrolled advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan and a member of the Karachi Bar Association. She has been practising as an IP lawyer for 15 years and specialises in trademark and copyright matters. She can be contacted at:
saira.bhatty@
bharuchaco.com
Samreen Khan is an associate at Bharucha & Co. She has an MPhil in molecular medicine. She owns a patent and has more than 15 publications. She specialises in research and patent examination. She can be contacted at:
samreen.khan@
bharuchaco.com
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