As foreign investors have been asking Nepal to strongly enforce the intellectual property laws, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has started drafting Intellectual Property (IP) Rights Bill.
Though, Nepal has Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 and the Copyright Act 2002, the latest development in the market – especially to attract foreign investment – Nepal is under the pressure of framing new IP law.
The ministry is also pushing the legal framework also due to World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) recommendation. During the second Trade Policy Review of Nepal held in December 2018, the WTO had pointed out slow progress toward safeguarding the intellectual property rights in Nepal. “Nepal should have a more effective enforcement of competition policy and protection of intellectual property rights,” reads global trade regime in its concluding remark of the review meeting.
Since the cases on violation of intellectual property right are governed by the age-old laws, the country enforced its first National IP Policy in March 2017. Thus, the government is framing Intellectual Property Act, to incorporate all the issues related to intellectual property under a single legal framework.
The ministry felt the need for a separate law after realising that old laws cannot address emerging cases related to intellectual property. As the government wants to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) to fill the resource gap, the foreign investors want their design be protected by the law. The ministry aims at finalising the draft in the one-and-a-half months.
The government has – before the Investment Summit – brought Public Private Partnership and Investment Act, and the Foreign Investment and Transfer of Technology Act (FITTA) to attract the foreign investment. But due to lack of intellectual property law, the foreign investors are not convinced.
According to the Department of Industry (DoI), the cases related to intellectual property rights have been growing with each passing year.
There has been lots of incidents of intellectual property rights violation – from various industries including products to music – in the country. Two years ago, a local company Kansai Nerolac Paints Nepal Pvt Ltd moved the court claiming a reputed Japanese company Kansai Paint’s brand in its name. The trademark dispute – which has frightened the international well known brands to enter Nepal – has still been under the court’s preview. In 2018, Nepali movie 'Kri' was accused of copyright violation for using music of an old movie in an unauthorised manner. The dispute was reportedly settled out of court for Rs 1.1 million.
According to some legal experts, there are some ‘professionals’, who have been registering the international well known brands and bargaining with them. The trend has distracted them from entering Nepal. Likewise, the imitatation of foreign brands in the domestic market is also on the rise.
Though, Nepal has Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 and the Copyright Act 2002, the latest development in the market – especially to attract foreign investment – Nepal is under the pressure of framing new IP law.
The ministry is also pushing the legal framework also due to World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) recommendation. During the second Trade Policy Review of Nepal held in December 2018, the WTO had pointed out slow progress toward safeguarding the intellectual property rights in Nepal. “Nepal should have a more effective enforcement of competition policy and protection of intellectual property rights,” reads global trade regime in its concluding remark of the review meeting.
Since the cases on violation of intellectual property right are governed by the age-old laws, the country enforced its first National IP Policy in March 2017. Thus, the government is framing Intellectual Property Act, to incorporate all the issues related to intellectual property under a single legal framework.
The ministry felt the need for a separate law after realising that old laws cannot address emerging cases related to intellectual property. As the government wants to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) to fill the resource gap, the foreign investors want their design be protected by the law. The ministry aims at finalising the draft in the one-and-a-half months.
The government has – before the Investment Summit – brought Public Private Partnership and Investment Act, and the Foreign Investment and Transfer of Technology Act (FITTA) to attract the foreign investment. But due to lack of intellectual property law, the foreign investors are not convinced.
According to the Department of Industry (DoI), the cases related to intellectual property rights have been growing with each passing year.
There has been lots of incidents of intellectual property rights violation – from various industries including products to music – in the country. Two years ago, a local company Kansai Nerolac Paints Nepal Pvt Ltd moved the court claiming a reputed Japanese company Kansai Paint’s brand in its name. The trademark dispute – which has frightened the international well known brands to enter Nepal – has still been under the court’s preview. In 2018, Nepali movie 'Kri' was accused of copyright violation for using music of an old movie in an unauthorised manner. The dispute was reportedly settled out of court for Rs 1.1 million.
According to some legal experts, there are some ‘professionals’, who have been registering the international well known brands and bargaining with them. The trend has distracted them from entering Nepal. Likewise, the imitatation of foreign brands in the domestic market is also on the rise.
