Law letter
Intellectual property and people's right to know
Mohammad Monirul Azam
 |
kennedyslawfirm-com-intellectual_property |
The Government of Bangladesh has initiated a project on the intellectual property (IP) system in Bangladesh with the financial and technical assistance of the European Commission (EC) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) which was launched on November 2, 2008. Being a researcher I tried to collect information about this project from the online version of our local newspapers and concerned institutions' websites. Unfortunately I failed to find out any such report. On several occasions, I tried to communicate with our Ministry and respective bodies on IP and International trade issues, but most of the times I found they very reluctant to reply to a University teacher or an ordinary citizen of the country. Around the world, there is a good understanding and interaction between Governments and Research institutions. In Bangladesh, it is completely absent and sometimes the so called high ups in our government simply ignore the need of the researcher's and citizen's right to know. However, I take this opportunity to write about the project so as to inform our readers and to make a few comments on its prospects and challenges. I do hope that Government will publish the complete terms of reference of this project for ensuring the citizen's right to know and may welcome public opinion on this project.
Objectives of this project
This project is initiated with the following objectives:
to modernise the intellectual property (IP) system in Bangladesh to help the country maximise the benefits of IP protection to undertake capacity-building measures to promote effective management of the intellectual property system, and its strategic use in supporting wealth creation and social and cultural development.
International obligations and national development goals
It is also worth noting thatthis project will identify the challenges faced by Bangladesh in meeting its international obligations. It will also support the evolution of the national IP system in line with the country's development objectives. In this regard, I would like to know from our policy makers and draw the attention of stakeholders as to how far our government evaluated its position vis-à-vis our international obligations under the different IP agreements and how we can preserve our national interest. Blind adherence to the textual obligations and reports or advice of global bodies and transnational corporations shall spell disaster for our country.
Therefore, who will identify our national challenges and developmental goals in the context of the IP system, is very crucial. There must be participation of stakeholders rather than participation of some NGOs having no expertise or knowledge of IP. In this context, while identifying our international obligations and development goals, Government must consider the following issues:
i) Transparent dialogues with the stakeholders (both IP users and creators).
ii) Objectivity in the evaluation of International agreements.
iii) Promotion of local experts rather than simply relying on foreign experts or consultants.
iv) Proper utilisation of the flexibilities in the international agreements. In this context, we may learn from the experience of Brazil and South Africa.
v) Preparing a priority list of local IP creators and users.
vi) Development of a database of IP creations in Bangladesh.
vii) Evaluation of the probable positive and negative consequences of the particular fields of IP.
viii) Proper utilisation of both technical and financial resources.
ix) Prevention of corruption and ensuring transparency at every level of project implementation.
x) Integration of all the research institutes in Bangladesh. For this, there may be a research network that may be shared with all the institutions. This would be a good move for future sharing of information, collaboration and transfer of technology between different institutions in Bangladesh.
xi) Making a country study on the probable IP development goals for Bangladesh. In this context, we may take a look into how India and Singapore utilised the IP for development.
xii) Considering the probable conflicts (if any) between public interest and IP, public health and IP, environmental protection and IP etc. Then we have to craft possible means to balance the same.
Implementation of the project and IP as a tool
This project is to be implemented under two main clusters of activities:
I) The first cluster aims to support in modernising our IP legislation and in strengthening IP administration systems for improved service delivery, which is to be achieved by streamlining, simplifying, and where appropriate, automating administrative functions in IP offices.
II) The second cluster aims at maximising the use of IP as a tool for economic, social and cultural development (as given in the report). It is quite fascinating that this cluster includes a public outreach programme to promote IP awareness in key sectors including Universities, R&D institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises, creative industries and the business community. It is also expected to promote IP teaching and education through fellowships, course development and linkages with WIPO's distance learning programs. But how the awareness and promotion of IP teaching and research activities are to be carried out is not clarified in the report. But if this task is entrusted exclusively to the intellectual property offices and the concerned Ministry, the full potential of IP may not be realised. Therefore, if we really like to utilise the IP as a tool for development, we have to develop a policy with proper interaction and role play of the Government bodies, relevant stakeholders and the Universities and research institutions in Bangladesh.
Future prospects
If we can define properly our obligations in line with our national interest and development goals, then the IP system may operate efficiently and effectively, and thereby would be able to promote a culture of innovation and creativity. Protection of IP may foster a favourable environment to attract foreign investment and to facilitate technology transfer, and thereby, contribute to the achievement of the overall economic and developmental goals of the country. But if not directed in line with national interest and developmental goals it may have adverse impacts as well. Thus I do hope that the Government of Bangladesh will carefully evaluate our national interest, developmental goals and proper utilisation of flexibilities and spaces available under the international IP agreements in general and TRIPS agreement in particular. Only then the present project on IP with the assistance of EC and WIPO will be beneficial for us.
The author is Assistant Professor, Department of Law, University of Chittagong and Researcher on Intellectual Property.
