Ministry of Commerce And Supplies - Enhanced Integrated ...

N T I S2010The Act also prescribes sanctions against breach of copyright. Pursuant to the gravity of the offence, Section29 of the Act prescribes a penalty of NRs 5,000 to 50,000 against someone who infringes the right of anotherauthor or copyright owner. Section 37 of the Act prescribes a police officer of at least the rank of policeinspector to investigate such cases and to register such cases before the district court.Copyright Registrar’s OfficeCopyright is managed and enforced by Nepal Copyright Registrar’s Office set up by the GoN under the Ministryof Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. The Registrar monitors all acts relating to protection of copyright andworks on increasing public awareness of copyright. Section 5 of the 2002 Copyright Act requires that onlya limited number of works need not be registered. However, owing to incidents of copyright infringement,many authors have been registering their works. Registration is simple and requires an application along withtwo copies of the work. The Registrar’s Office checks on the validity of the submission, which usually takesseven or eight days. The registration fee is NRs 100.The Registrar’s Office suffers from the same problem as the section responsible for Industrial Property in theDoI relating to staff turnover. The Office also lacks office space.9.3 Recommendations: Nepal’s Needs in Intellectual PropertyProtectionLegislationThe current Patent, Design and Trademark Act needs to be amended. Nepal needs to enact intellectualproperty rights covering Traditional Knowledge, such as that embedded in goods produced through variousherbs. Likewise, there is no provision for geographical indications or collective marks, which nowadays arekey elements of industrial property.The Industrial Property Act and the Copyright Act need to be aligned with international principles and standardsin the area of intellectual property enshrined in international treaties and agreements under the oversight ofthe WTO and WIPO. Since Nepal is a member of the WTO, it is necessary for Nepalese Acts and Regulationsto be compatible with the Agreement on TRIPS, including securing tenures of protection consistent withinternational standards.To introduce Nepalese patents, Nepal should become a member of the international Patent CooperationTreaty and, to introduce trademark at international level, Nepal should become a member of the MadridProtocol. Until and unless Nepal becomes a member of these two international treaties, Nepalese patentsand trademarks will lack international recognition. For instance, a Nepalese businessman cannot singlehandedlyregister his/her brand in a foreign country. This is possible only once Nepal becomes a member ofthe Madrid Protocol.Public Awareness and EducationVery few people are knowledgeable about industrial property rights and most stakeholders are uninformedabout how to register and protect such rights and the benefits of doing so. As noted earlier, patent and designregistration is scarce. There is some public awareness of trademark, but this is still insufficient. There is a needfor a large-scale public awareness campaign to explain the nature of intellectual property and the benefits ofprotection not only among business people, entrepreneurs and creators but also among consumers.NEPAL TRADE INTEGRATION STRATEGY 2010BACKGROUND REPORT211