Panel Discussion on Intellectual Property Rights and Brands – Highlights
Nepal Youth Chamber and KhabarHub jointly organized a panel discussion regarding the state of intellectual property rights of brands in Nepal. Graced by eminent personalities from business and legal avenues of the country, the session shed light on crucial issues regarding Intellectual Property Right violations, particularly the tendency of some businesses to blatantly copy the names of popular brands. Furthermore, the discussion also focused on establishing a firm IPR culture to attract more FDI in the country.
Panelists – Ram Chandra Tiwari (Director General – Udhyog Bivag), Deepak Shrestha (Chariman – Nepatop, Vice Chairman – Nepal Chamber of Commerce), Naresh Shrestha (Chairman – Khabarhub), Saibal Ghosh (CEO – Berger Paints), Vijay Sharma (Country Head – Devyani International Nepal P. Ltd), Rituraj Shah (CFO – Devyani International P. Ltd), Roshnee Lamicchane (Assistant Professor – Kathmandu University), Dipesh Tuladhar (President – Nepal Youth Chamber) and Prakrit Shrestha (Attorney at Law).
Key Highlights
KFC’s Predicament
Mr. Rituraj Shah from Devyani International shared his fair share of grievances pertaining to KFC. Evidently, KFC is very likely the most afflicted brand when it comes to Intellectual Property Theft. Brands like KKFC, KFCC and Kwality Food Cafe have sprung out in the recent decade in Kathmandu as well as other major cities throughout Nepal. This ineptitude of the government to allow replicated brand names to proceed through registration is astonishing considering that Devyani International had registered KFC in Nepal way back in 1952. Furthermore, these copied brands that have conducted outright violation of IPR tarnish the brand image of KFC with substandard services since an unaware Nepali is unable to discern the original brand from the replicas.
Lethargic Legal Procedures
Majority of the panelists shared their complaints regarding the sluggish nature of legal procedures in the registration process. Mr. Saibal Ghosh stressed that the registration process of certain brands have taken up to 5 years which is absolutely mind-boggling. Likewise, Mr. Rituraj Shah from KFC also shared his complaint regarding the legal procedure. Despite already engaging in a lease agreement for KFC’s outlet in Chitwan, the registration process has not been completed even after 8 months.
Ram Chandra Tiwari, partly accepting this ineptitude of the government, retorted that registration process demands a hefty number of documents which brands are unable to comply with at times, resulting in a lengthy procedure. Furthermore, he stressed that the public sector of Nepal is ,to date, reliant on hard copy documents, thus, exacerbating the already lengthy process. Also, he pointed out that with the absence of digital systems, cases regarding IPR violations have piled up, rendering it difficult to trace them. All in all, there is a dire need to transition to a digital working system to ease the lethargic legal procedure of Nepal.
IPR in Academics – Education vs Pragmaticism
Roshnee Lamicchane shared her cogitations pertaining to IPR’s inclusion in academia. She contended that business ethics is embedded into the academic structure of several colleges in Nepal. However, practical application of acquired education seems to be far-fetched. She stressed that there is a tendency to disregard pragmaticism of academic learning. Moreover, she believes that Nepalese must grow a habit of conducting prior extensive research in order to become elucidated about the ethical way of doing a business.
