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coordinated policy and approach to protect intellectual property
rights in Bangladesh, and wants to bring all related agencies under
one roof. Two ministries are already working on it. However,
officials of the industry ministry and the culture ministry are not
seeing eye-to-eye. At present, the patent, design and trademark
registry offices are under one directorate of the industry ministry
while the copyright office is under the cultural affairs ministry. A
suggestion was put forward, in a meeting of the Bangladesh Better
Business Forum in June last year, to bring all offices related to
intellectual property rights under one roof with the creation of a
Bangladesh Intellectual Property Organisation (BIPO). The World
Intellectual Property Organisation ( WIPO) and development partners
have also suggested merging the related offices, say government
officials. Enamul Haque, registrar of the patents, designs and
trademarks directorate, told bdnews24. com earlier this week, "The
offices under this directorate, as well as the copyright office, are
all interrelated with one another. If they come under one roof then
better services can be provided." But, in spite of several meetings
between the officials of the industry and culture ministries they
have failed to agree on the proposed new agency. Officials of the
industry ministry say the cultural ministry is opposing the initiative
because the proposed BIPO would be under the industry ministry. "We
are trying to take the initiative to unite the four offices for
convenience. But we are unable to do so for objection from the
cultural ministry, " said one top official, not wanting to be named.
Cultural secretary Sharful Alam told bdnews24. com, "We are not for
any kind of rushed decision. We will have to do our homework and
analyse the positive and negative aspects of such a move." "We are
yet to reach any conclusion." "We have said that a conclusion could
have been reached had there been inter-ministerial meetings to
discuss the pros and cons before making such a decision," said Alam.
The present patents, designs and trade marks directorate itself
emerged from a similar decision not long ago to unite the previously
independent trademarks registry and controller of patents offices
that had once been under the control of the commerce ministry. The
Trademarks Act and The Patents and Designs Act in 2003 "to ensure
effective functioning of the merged offices newly styled as the
'Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Directorate" under the industry
ministry. The copyright office, meanwhile, was founded in 1962 to
govern copyright and related rights for books, music and other
creative works in Bangladesh. It is situated at the National Library
building at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. The culture ministry on its website
says, " Copyright law is a section of 'Intellectual Property Rights
(IPR)' law." Tanjib-Ul Alam, a Supreme Court lawyer specialising in
intellectual property rights law, said, "All these related issues are
dealt with by one agency in many countries in the world," he said.
"But here, we have to go to the trademark office for a logo and to
the copyright office for a name." Businesses and industry say they
need better copyright, patent and design policies to keep pace with
the international community Industries minister Dilip Barua has
repeatedly stressed the importance of intellectual property rights,
and their proper application in business, for socio-economic
development. "It is very sad that Bangladesh has had no
comprehensive intellectual property policy," said Barua in April. He
said the current world scenario requires modern legislation. The
government has taken initiatives on this since coming to power in
January. It passed the Trademarks Law 2009 and is formulating an
updated patent and design law, say industry ministry officials.
Barua has recently mentioned a diversity of cultural products that
needed protection, such as Jamdani saris, rosh malai, famous
folksongs, traditional dances, and the rich culture of indigenous
communities. Bangladesh Computer Association President, Mostafa
Jabbar, has said there is absolutely no application of copyright law
against piracy in bangladesh. The music, film and software
industries were on the verge of ruination "thanks to piracy", say
industry leaders. Bangladesh, meanwhile, has been named the worst
offender for software piracy in the Asian Pacific region and the
second worst in the world. According to the Global Software Piracy
Study 2008 , conducted by IDC, the IT industry's leading global
market research and forecasting firm, software piracy in Bangladesh
rates at a staggering 92 percent. The worst offender is Georgia at
95 percent, followed by Armenia and Zimbabwe joining Bangladesh at
92 percent. The IDC report warned that piracy is crippling the
local industry and costing local retailers $102 million a year.
Officials say land has already been allocated at Agargaon for the
Bangladesh Intellectual Property Organisation (BIPO). Automation of
patents, designs and trade marks directorate is also underway. All
that remains is for the two ministries is to bury their differences
in the interests of strengthening intellectual property rights in
Bangladesh to safeguard local industries and raise the country's
reputation abroad.
