Speakers at a seminar on Thursday stressed proper implementation of intellectual property laws to protect individual creativity and urged all to raise awareness of using open source software instead of the pirated ones.
To promote intellectual property rights protection among younger generation, the media studies and journalism department of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh in cooperation with Bangladesh Copyright and Industrial Property Forum organised the seminar in the ULAB auditorium.
ULAB vice-chancellor Imran Rahman inaugurated the seminar titled ‘Intellectual property issues in branding’ where BCIPF chief executive ABM Hamidul Mishbah presented the keynote paper.
Special guest Sharifa Khan, director of WTO cell under ministry of commerce, said, ‘It is high time for Bangladesh to mobilise intellectual property laws for our own interest as the country has become familiar in the world through garment manufacturing.’
The chief guest of the seminar, GPIT Ltd CEO Peter Anthony Dindial, said, ‘Implementation of intellectual property laws can contribute significantly to social and economic development.’
BCIPF president Kazi Zahin Hasan said intellectual property rights protection was needed for the benefit of innovators, producers and consumers.
In the interactive session of the seminar, some students expressed that many of them did not have the ability to buy original books at high cost.
Sharifa Khan replied that in the low quality pirated copies, pages are often missing.
Copyright registrar of the Copyright Office Manzurur Rahman moderated the programme.