Bandar Seri Begawan - Cooperation among enforcement agencies and continuous public education is required for Brunei’s legal framework to succeed in protecting intellectual property rights (IPR), a senior official from Japan’s Patent Office said.

“Brunei’s legal framework is there, but it all depends on the enforcement — the police, the customs — that all these resources must work together to make it happen,” said Ryuichi Kubo, director of the Regional Policy Office at the Japan Patent Office’s International Affairs Division. “Public awareness programmes, such as this seminar, should also be more continuous,” said Ryuichi, adding that results do not come overnight.

Ryuichi was speaking following a talk on the role and issues of intellectual property protection organised by the Japanese Embassy at the Empire Hotel and Country Club yesterday, which gathered more than 100 government officials, students and individuals from the private sector to gain better insight into the subject.

Naimah Mohd Ali, assistant solicitor-general at the Attorney General’s Chambers, said in her opening address that enforcement agencies need the cooperation of rights holders to provide continuing support. “In enforcing their rights, IPR holders are encouraged to work together with the enforcement agencies.

Enforcement agencies in Brunei have long been responsive to complaints lodged by the rights holders,” she said, adding that the protection of intellectual property rights enables countries to participate more actively in international trade.

Last June, Brunei and Japan entered into an economic partnership agreement aimed at increasing new market opportunities for Brunei’s trade in goods and services, as well as attracting more investment into the country. Naimah said that adequate and effective enforcement of IPR will facilitate technology transfer between the two countries. Counterfeit goods have been spreading in various fields of merchandise, especially service parts for vehicles including motorcycles, branded goods such as handbags, watches and clothes and home electronic appliances, said Japanese Ambassador to Brunei Hashimoto Itsuo.

“Unfortunately, intellectual property rights are not always complied with in some Asian countries, including Asean,” he said. “These counterfeit goods are detrimental to a healthy economic development, technological development and creative innovations, and tarnish the effort and confidence of the company.

It is no exaggeration to say that they sometimes threaten the security of people’s lives. “I believe that intellectual property rights are the catalyst for creating new products which satisfy the various needs of the people in the world and thus improve our lives, while ensuring the protection of inventors’ interests.”

The ambassador said such penalties against IPR infringement have been getting heavier in Japan in recent years. — Courtesy of The Brunei Times