Nepal ranked at the 100th position with a score of 4.4 out of 10 -- putting it in the bottom 20 per cent of the quintile in the International Property Rights Index for this year -- among the 129 countries.
The report launched globally today was launched by the Samriddhi Foundation here in the valley.
Compared to last year's score of 4, Nepal has scored a little higher to 4.4 due to improvement in Physical property rights but in overall property Right Status Nepal has scored 3.2, in Legal and Political Environment 5.8, in Physical Property Rights and 4.1 and in Intellectual Property Rights 4.1.
Flanking neighbours to Nepal -- Peoples Republic of China and India -- on the other hand have scored 5.5 and 5.6 respectively making the countries in the list of the countries, where there is more property rights.
Sweden and Finland have tied for the top spot in this year's index with a score of 8.5, Finland has retained its top spot for the fifth year in a row, whereas in South Asian region, Pakistan and Bangladesh that are below Nepal, scored 4.1 and 3.6, respectively. Nigeria with 3.9 is in the bottom of the list, according to the index.
While in the context of Property Rights and Gender Equality, Nepal ranks 68th along with Zambia and Uganda.
The International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is a publication of the Property Rights Alliance, with sixty-seven think tanks and policy organisations in fifty-three countries involved in research, policy, development, education and promotion of property rights in various countries.
"Wherever there has been a rights to property, those countries have shown to have better GDP, a stronger Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow and more income," said senior economic journalist Prateek Pradhan. "Property Rights and Intellectual Property Rights need to be secured in Nepal too for the economic growth."
Stating that majority of the people are unaware of Property rights in Nepal, he said that personal property, roughly speaking, is a private property that is moveable, as opposed to real property or real estate. In the common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personality.
In the civil law systems personal property is often called movable property or movables - any property that can be moved from one location to another. This term is in distinction with immovable property or immovable, such as land and buildings. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words,phrases, symbols, and designs.
Showing posts with label Intellectual Property Rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intellectual Property Rights. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Friday, January 30, 2009
Call for national strategy to protect IPR
Law enforcement agencies' apathy has recently killed two people and some more have been blinded. The market is flooded with fake drugs but law enforcement agencies have no clue as to the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), experts said here today.
Speaking at the 'National Workshop on Intellectual Property Strategy for Nepal' organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and supported by the American embassy and Microsoft, they blamed lack of awareness among stakeholders and consumers, lackadaisical approach of law enforcement agencies and lack of strict and up-to-date legal provisions to tackle such incidents that are becoming more frequent. "Law enforcement angencies should be trained in IPR as it's a technical issue," opined the experts.
"Though there are some acts -- like Copyright Act -- to protect manufacturers' and consumers' rights, these need reform," said Supreme Court registrar Dr Ram Krishna Timilsina.
He added that the present law was not strong enough to punish those involved in churning out fake products and causing irreversible damage to others. "Policy intervention is a must in such cases to protect the rights of consumers and the manufacturers," Timilsina added.
FNCCI president Kush Kumar Joshi said Nepal was lagging behind in the implementation of IPR. "Industries are hit hard due to lack of a proper and prompt action plan," he said.
Nepali IP laws need harmonisation in accordance with international laws and World Trade Organsiation (WTO) policy for preparing a national strategy to crack down on fake and pirated products.
"If IPR is properly monitored, Nepal's indigenous industries can be protected," said Randy Berry, Charge D' Affairs at the American embassy in Kathmandu. He also voiced serious concern over the fake medicines flooding in the market saying that these could cause a huge loss of human lives. "Around 60 per cent of the medicines in the domestic market is fake," he said adding that if IPR was properly addressed, health and education -- basic human rights -- could be protected.
Today's national workshop is a follow-up of last year's Global Intellectual Property Rights Academy's conference that was held in May 2008. The workshop today formed a draft of a National Action Plan to protect IPR -- creations of the mind, inventions, literary and artistic works, scientific works, symbols, names and images used in the industry, commerce and communication sectors.
"There are various issues involved in IP, like copyright, patent and trademarks," said Birat Thapa, chairman of the ICT Development Unit of FNCCI. Participants were of the view that awareness, enforcement and legislation are essential to the protection of IPR.
Speaking at the 'National Workshop on Intellectual Property Strategy for Nepal' organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and supported by the American embassy and Microsoft, they blamed lack of awareness among stakeholders and consumers, lackadaisical approach of law enforcement agencies and lack of strict and up-to-date legal provisions to tackle such incidents that are becoming more frequent. "Law enforcement angencies should be trained in IPR as it's a technical issue," opined the experts.
"Though there are some acts -- like Copyright Act -- to protect manufacturers' and consumers' rights, these need reform," said Supreme Court registrar Dr Ram Krishna Timilsina.
He added that the present law was not strong enough to punish those involved in churning out fake products and causing irreversible damage to others. "Policy intervention is a must in such cases to protect the rights of consumers and the manufacturers," Timilsina added.
FNCCI president Kush Kumar Joshi said Nepal was lagging behind in the implementation of IPR. "Industries are hit hard due to lack of a proper and prompt action plan," he said.
Nepali IP laws need harmonisation in accordance with international laws and World Trade Organsiation (WTO) policy for preparing a national strategy to crack down on fake and pirated products.
"If IPR is properly monitored, Nepal's indigenous industries can be protected," said Randy Berry, Charge D' Affairs at the American embassy in Kathmandu. He also voiced serious concern over the fake medicines flooding in the market saying that these could cause a huge loss of human lives. "Around 60 per cent of the medicines in the domestic market is fake," he said adding that if IPR was properly addressed, health and education -- basic human rights -- could be protected.
Today's national workshop is a follow-up of last year's Global Intellectual Property Rights Academy's conference that was held in May 2008. The workshop today formed a draft of a National Action Plan to protect IPR -- creations of the mind, inventions, literary and artistic works, scientific works, symbols, names and images used in the industry, commerce and communication sectors.
"There are various issues involved in IP, like copyright, patent and trademarks," said Birat Thapa, chairman of the ICT Development Unit of FNCCI. Participants were of the view that awareness, enforcement and legislation are essential to the protection of IPR.
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