World Intellectual Property Day was celebrated on April 26, with the theme ‘Creativity: The Next Generation’. Economy of advanced countries is based on creativity, innovation and advanced knowledge of science and technology, but in third world countries, like Pakistan, creative individuals are deprived of the assistance to protect their intellectual property rights. Intellectual property protection and awareness of intellectual property rights has never been a priority in the third world. There is a sheer lack of human resource in this field of knowledge and no concrete effort has been made to bridge this knowledge gap. This non serious attitude of the developing world towards one of the most important area of knowledge has resulted in serious loss both in terms of financial as well as intellectual loss.
The present state of affairs not only discourages foreign direct investment but also results in mistrust of local investors. Creative individuals prefer to immigrate to countries where there intellectual property rights are protected; this results in brain drain. Struggling economies like Pakistan can make rapid and sustainable progress if government invests in capacity building of its citizens and protects their creativity and innovations with proper implementation of effective intellectual property laws.
MUHAMMAD ZAHEER ABBAS,
Islamabad, April 25.