The Meeting was chaired by Ambassador (R) Farukh Amil, Chairperson IPO-Pakistan and attended by Ms. Amina Rafique, Additional Director General, Punjab Food Authority (PFA), Lahore; Mr. Ishtiaq Shafiq, Deputy Director, DRAP, Lahore; Mr. Umar Khawar, Assistant Director FIA, Lahore; Mr. Sadaqtum Nazar Ali Khan, Assistant Director and Ms. Hijab Nawaz, Preventive Officer from Directorate IPR Enforcement, Customs Lahore; Mr. Amir Maqbool Bhatti, Assistant Director, PEMRA, Lahore; Mr. Nasir Hameed, DSP, Punjab Police, Lahore; Kamaran Javed, Director (R&D) LCCI, Lahore.   

The Chair IPO welcomed the participants stressing the necessity of all stakeholders to make coordinated efforts with collective goals. Underlining that the IPR Enforcement coordination was a critical function of IPO-Pakistan, the Chairperson elaborated that the effective IPR Enforcement was critical in determining foreign investment. Foreign investors and existing Multinationals were looking very closely at brand protection and had a sophisticated understanding of IP abuse. Pakistan had no choice but seen as a serious investment destination with a robust culture of IP Awareness and Enforcement. Foreign Investment would avoid countries not seen as IP responsible. The culture had to change. Enforcement had to be systematic and serious. Few would choose a country which lacked global standards of IPR enforcement. Equally, IP abusers damaged legitimate domestic companies and deterred MSM Entrepreneurs from pursuing innovative enterprise.

The Chairperson urged effective deterrence through inter-departmental coordination and cohesion among stakeholders to effectively address the menace of piracy and counterfeiting. It could not be business as usual.

Mr. Muhammad Ismail (Director) Enforcement presented a detailed presentation which encompassed important topics related to Intellectual Property Management in Pakistan along with brief introduction of core functions of IPO-Pakistan. The functions and responsibilities of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) Enforcement Coordination Committees (ECCs) were also presented.  He said that seven (07) Intellectual Property Tribunals are currently functional at Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Quetta. He also explained that the IP Tribunals are specialized courts to hear IP infringement cases. He further added that 12 IP Enforcement Coordination Committees were functional at Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Gilgit, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Muzaffarabad. He apprised that the Anti-piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting Cells are functional and affective at all 05 offices of IPO-Pakistan. He said that IPO-Pakistan is responsible to receive complaints from IP right holders and forward these complaints to concerned LEAs for necessary action. He informed the members of the committee that the IPO-Pakistan developed guidelines for Police, FIA and Customs regarding IPR Enforcement actions in the light of IP laws.

Mr. Osama Zubair, Senior Program Manager, PITB presented salient features of IPR Enforcement Complaints Management System (IPR-ECMS). He explained it in the form of flow chart and informed that this paperless system will be ready to be launched online in the next 04 weeks.

Ms. Hijab Nawaz from Pakistan Customs raised queries about the identification of alleged infringer by the complainant and some other features of IPR-ECMs. The technical team from PITB and IPO took note of it for inclusion in development of the dashboard. 

Ms. Amina Rafique, Additional Director General, Punjab Food Authority (PFA) informed that registration and certification system of PFA is totally online. The IPO’s IPR-ECMS system may be integrated with the online system of PFA for real time information sharing between the two organizations and addressing the issues of false labeling. The Chair IPO appreciated the idea and advised the technical team of IPO and PITB to work on it in coordination with PFA. He also advised the PFA to forward a formal letter to IPO in this context. Same type of request was also launched by Mr. Nasir Hameed, DSP, Punjab Police for integration of Police Complaint system with IPR-ECMS. The Chair agreed with both the proposals of PFA and Punjab Police.

Mr. Umar Khawar, Assistant Director FIA informed that IP was part of their trainings at FIA Academy. The IP experts from FIA deliver lectures on IPRs. He also proposed for increasing penalties for IPR violations.

All participants solidly agreed that the penalties should be increased to deter the IP abusers. The Chair pointed out that clear, written proposals for stiffer penalties had to come from the affectees and then be approved by the Parliament to ensure effective deterrence. IPO-Pakistan, he said, was fully on board.

Mr. Ishtiaq Shafiq, Deputy Director, DRAP proposed for effective coordination between IPO and DRAP for capacity building of DRAP officers as well as stakeholders like PPMA to address the issue of counterfeit drugs in the country. The Chair IPO agreed with the proposal.

The text of Intellectual Property (Enforcement & Coordination) Rules, 2025 was also discussed during the meeting. The Chair advised the members of LEAs to review the draft text and forward their written input to IPO-Pakistan within two weeks’ time, so that draft should be finalized and forwarded to the Federal Government for approval and notification as per procedure.    

The initiative for devising online complaint system by IPO-Pakistan was appreciated by all members. It was suggested by the participants that more IP Tribunals may be established. It was also proposed that capacity building programs for LEAs and awareness/information sessions for business community may be convened on regular basis. 

In the end, while welcoming the ideas and suggestions by the participants, the Chair stressed that the relevant stakeholders should come out of the silos and ensure effective linkages for concrete IPR Enforcement. The Chairperson in conclusion stated that all the concerned departments should move rapidly and firmly for enforcement of IPR Laws in Pakistan. He vowed to move aggressively forward across the country to improve Enforcement.

Source: https://ipo.gov.pk//node/3166