Current intellectual property law, which dateS back to 1914 with the enactment of the Myanmar Copyright Act, do not recognise copyright from other countries nor does it provide for registering copyright from foreign countries within Myanmar.
As a result, bootleggers openly sell DVDs, music and computer software around the country, while illicit cable providers provide unlicensed networks to its subscribers.
The process of improving IP laws began in 2001 when Myanmar joined the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), but delays have occurred in ensuring compliance with international and ASEAN norms. Nearly fifteen years later, that law appears to have become a priority for the government, who promised to deliver a revamped version in 2014.
Experts said, however, that despite recent economic gains, international firms deciding on whether to invest in the country will not wait forever, while the government rushes to modernise its laws.
“Investors don’t [want to] come to countries where their products and technology can be replicated with impunity,” Takahiko Kinoshita, secretary general of the Kyoto Comparative Law Centre, said during a seminar in Yangon earlier this month. “Without such a law, our small and medium enterprises will lose out and Myanmar will be denied new technology.”
The current version of the draft law provides for 10 years’ protection for patents and trade mart, 15 years for industrial design and for copyright, the lifetime of the creator plus 50 years after death, said Daw Hnin Nwe Aye, assistant director of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The lack of a clear law without provisions for enforcement could drive away investors who fear their products could be pirated, and stifle creatively domestically, she said.
“Passing a law is not enough. There have to be enforcement provisions,” she said, adding that Myanmar is the only country in the region without an IP law.
Where a revamped IP law would be important in drawing international firms, it would also help protect local businessmen unable to safeguard their products in the local market.
“I think local artists and musicians want to see better IP laws in place to help protect them,” said Jeremy Rathjen, vice president of research at Myanmar-based research and consulting firm Thura Swiss.
He said that although a new IP law would be beneficial, it would, however, likely not make or break international investment deals as disputes can now be handled under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, which Myanmar acceded to in July.
“It is difficult to enforce certain laws in Myanmar and everyone recognises that. But that’s why the New York Convention is so important, because now they can take their disputes abroad to where there are arbitral courts and get a fair ruling,” he said, adding that such decisions could then be brought back to the local courts to be enforced.
Despite such progress, the successful enforcement of a foreign arbitral award would depend on the enactment of an efficient domestic IP law as it is unclear whether the local courts will honour rulings made outside the country, experts have said.
Myanmar and other least developed countries received an extension from the World Trade Organisation last year to comply with the international standard agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The deadline was extended to 2021 in June from the previous date of July 1, 2013.
“IP regulation is essential for Myanmar’s economy,” said Mukai Naoto, an adviser with the industrial development and public policy department of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has also been working on the project.
“An IP law would boost foreign investment and protect locally created products, as well as enhancing their value,” he added.
Similar action is also required on laws governing SMEs, domain names, trade secrets, consumer protection and standardisation, preferably in time for Myanmar’s entry into the ASEAN economic community and Free Trade Area in 2015, Mr Kinoshita of the Kyoto Comparative Law Centre said.
“The Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry [UMFCCI] is cooperating with the ministry to establish a [new IP] law to put an end to such issues,” said U Aye Lwin, joint secretary of UMFCCI.
“We hope to see it adopted soon,” U Aye Lwin said.
“It’s needed to protect international brands produced by investors coming here, as well as our own brands. We want to establish a Myanmar Intellectual Property Association as fast as we can.”
Daw Tin Ohmar Tun, chair of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Organisation, who has been participating in government-level discussions of the law told The Myanmar Times last month that it was possible the final draft of the IP could be in front of Parliament as soon as next month.
“We already finished the final draft specifying crimes and penalties, and reported to the Attorney-General’s office earlier this month. We are now dealing with enforcement,” she said at the time.
To further help with the issue, the government is planning to establish a technology and innovation support centre (TISC) in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a Ministry of Science and Technology official told The Myanmar Times last week.
Daw Hnin Nwe Aye of the Ministry of Science and Technology said the plan aimed to help innovators and researchers from least-developed countries promote the creation and sharing of information technology and protect intellectual property rights, but implementation details were unclear.
“We have a plan to establish the centre, but we’ll have to sign an agreement with WIPO,” she said, adding the idea came out of a meeting of international experts in information technology held in Nay Pi Taw on December 15.
source: The Myanmar Times
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