Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has called upon the government to ensure strict enforcement of intellectual property rights in the country to promote innovations, brands and attract more investment to the country. He said that due to lukewarm enforcement and IPR violations, the government was losing significant revenue besides engendering the life of public exposed to counterfeit products. He said this while addressing an awareness seminar on IPR issues for women entrepreneurs and start-ups organized by ICCI in collaboration with Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IWCCI).

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said that lengthy processing timelines for granting IP rights, complicated procedure for registration and long drawn judicial procedure for the protection of IP rights are the key issues that should be addressed to promote their compliance. He was of the view that the better enforcement of IPRs would reward the innovators, increase value of businesses & start-ups and attract more local and foreign investment to Pakistan.

John Cabeca, US Intellectual Property Counselor for South Asia gave a detailed presentation on IP Rights including utility patent, design patent, copyright, trade secret & trademark. He said IPRs encourage and protect innovations & inventions, promote commercialization and application of IP, incentivize investment and foster economic growth.

Ms. Naima Ansari, former President, Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry stressed for creating maximum awareness about IP Rights in women entrepreneurs and start-ups to encourage innovative solutions of the various problems being faced by the society.

Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that timely registration of copyrights, trademarks and patents supported by strict enforcement regime is critical for building confidence of the existing and potential foreign investors in Pakistan.