ISLAMABAD:After the passage of the Global Indication (GI) law in the country, Pakistan will have significant opportunities to increase its economic and commercial activities in the international market.
The senior official of the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) of Pakistan told reporter here on Monday that now after this legislation; a level playing field will be available for the export of various commercial goods including rice, red salt, precious stones and other goods in the international market.
He said that Geographical Indication would serve as a potential economic tool to promote and increase national and international trade by attracting global demand and premium prices for Pakistani products in the international market.
The senior official said the GI- (Registration and Protection) Act, 2020 was introduced by the federal government in mid of last year to highlight the non-agricultural and agricultural products of the country across the intentional market.
The agricultural and non-agricultural products which the ministry has proposed for GI registration in the first phase include some varieties of Mangoes, Citrus, and Precious stones Ruby, Emerald, Tourmaline, Topaz and Aquamarine, he said.
He said that Pakistan had taken the step for the indication of local items including pink salt and basmati rice so that they could be protected globally and the country’s traders could benefit from the export of these items. These items can be registered under the geographical indications law. This move by the government will also protect Pakistan’s local products globally.
In the past, some competitors in the international markets have been promoting basmati and some other items belonging to Pakistan as their products at the international level, making it necessary to protect their identity. Therefore, the federal government is expediting the implementation of this law.
It is pertinent to mention that “Global indication law” is a broad term that could refer to various international agreements, treaties, or laws related to intellectual property rights, such as trademarks and geographical indications.
Pakistan is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and has implemented intellectual property laws to protect various forms of intellectual creations, including trademarks and geographical indications.
In Pakistan, the law governing trademarks is the Trademarks Act, of 2001, which provides legal protection to distinctive signs used in commerce to distinguish goods or services. This law also regulates the use, registration, and enforcement of trademarks in Pakistan.
Regarding geographical indications, Pakistan has implemented the Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act, of 2020.
This law facilitates the registration and protection of Geographical Indications (GIs), which are signs used to identify products as originating from a specific geographical area and possessing qualities, reputation, or attributes related to that area.
Both these laws in Pakistan aim to protect intellectual property rights and prevent unauthorized use or infringement of trademarks and geographical indications.