Business community mind set:
To change from driving to managed exports
Ramani Kangaraarachchi
The business community in the country should change its mind set from
driving commodity exports to value added patent generated and
Intellectual Property (IP) managed exports, CEO Sri Lanka Institute of
Nano Technology (SLINTEC) Ravi Fernando said.
Ravi Fernando |
He was addressing a knowledge seminar on “Intellectual Property”
organized by SLINTEC to improve awareness amongst the business and
scientific community of the need for IP management held at the
Industrial Technology Institute (ITI), Colombo last week. The event
coincided with the World Intellectual Property Day (WIP) that fell on
April 26 under the 2009 theme ‘Green Innovation’.
Fernando said that the Sri Lankan economy continues to be driven by
the export of commodities with little value addition as brands and
patents, but there are many talented scientists who have been granted
with patents, but not exploited and managed these patents and developed
IP to generate revenue through royalties.
As such SLINTEC has taken the lead to focus on this subject as an
institute committed to ‘Sustainable Nano Technology’. Today nearly 30
percent of the US revenue is generated through royalties from their
patents and IP and it is high time that Sri Lanka also started a journey
towards better patent creation and IP management, Fernando said.
However, Dilmah tea and Solideal rubber are exceptions who have
established the brands globally. The scientific community should realize
its full potential to generate royalties by protecting its innovations
proactively and the legal profession also should develop a cadre of
world class IP lawyers to support the business and scientific
communities of Sri Lanka, Fernando added.
President’s Counsel Dr. Harsha Cabral said that Intellectual Property
belongs to the category of intangible asset which are considered as very
precious to any individual, corporate or otherwise today and in an era
where tangible assets are dropping in value and intangible assets are
becoming more valuable.
“Intellectual property includes copyright, design, patent and
trademarks and Sri Lanka being a signatory to the Trade Related
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, was obliged to amend its
laws relating to intellectual property on the guidelines set out by the
agreement”, Dr. Cabral said.
Reported and unreported judgments in Sri Lanka on intellectual
property cases speak volumes of its development.
Dr. Cabral said that Sri Lanka has an up-to-date law for this but
patent registrations are very minimal because awareness is not there. As
such a monthly program is a must. Chairman, ITIA Professor Vijaya Kumar,
Director Intellectual Property Office, Dr D.M.Karunaratne and Team
leader SLINTEC Professor Veranja Karunaratne also spoke and the panel
discussion was facilitated by the Science Team leader, SLINTEC Prof.
Ajith De Alwis. |