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Intellectual property rights regarding export

By Khizar Alam Khan Pakistan Observer Newspaper online edition Pakistan provides a wide range of protection for intellectual property through the federal registration of trademarks and service marks through federal patent protection and copyright protection under state laws, through protection of trade secrets and marks. Federal protections extend only throughout Pakistan. Pakistan IPR laws confer little or no protection in other countries. To secure full patent rights in another country, you must apply for a patent in that country. Some advantages and minimum standards for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property do exist under treaties or other international agreements. For example, copyright protection is automatic in all WTO countries without any formality (such as registration, copyright notice, etc.), and is extended on the basis of national treatment-that is, a Pakistan author suing in France under French copyright law is entitled to the same protection as a French author suing in France under French copyright law. The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs) upgraded standards of protection for a full range of IPR. The agreement also provides for the effective enforcement of those standards both internally and at the border. The TRIPs Agreement is the first multilateral intellectual property agreement that is enforceable between governments. The agreement has a strong dispute settlement mechanism to resolve disputes. The question of whether to pursue international protection for your IPR is not always particularly defined for example , there may be cases when it is advisable to forego patent protection to safeguard trade secrets and sensitive information that may need to be published in the patent process. In any case, the first step in determining if IPR protection is right for your company is to secure the services of specialized legal counsel. It is important to note that in addition to obtaining patent protection, you should also protect your trade secrets through appropriate confidentiality provisions in employment, licensing, marketing, financing, distribution, and joint venture agreements.

Full post as published by The Trade Secrets Vault on January 02, 2009 (boomark / email).