Simplify IP registration

Owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) yesterday requested the government to digitalise and simplify the registration process for intellectual property rights in a bid to protect their products.

The entrepreneurs also demanded reduction of the registration cost because the amount was huge for the small enterprises that just launched businesses.

The demands came at a seminar titled “Intellectual property rights for growth of SMEs” organised by the SME Foundation at the ongoing SME Fair in the capital's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Intellectual property (IP) rights for industries refer to patents and trademarks which can protect products, brands and designs innovated by the entrepreneurs from piracy.

Mirza Nurul Gani Shovon, president of the National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh, said IP rights registration system should be digitalised so that entrepreneurs could get the certificates easily and fast.

“Fees for the IP registration are too high for new entrepreneurs, so it should be reduced,” he added.

Md Belal Hossen, examiner of the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (DPDT), said an entrepreneur had to spend Tk 15,000 to Tk 20,000 in fees to get the registration.

Presenting a paper at the seminar, he said SMEs give little emphasis on protecting their innovations, so they have to know that the intellectual property registration helps obtain higher returns on investments.

Entrepreneur Syed Mohammad Shoeb Hasan said getting registration certificate took up a lot of time, in some cases 10 to 12 years. “It should be very fast and by any means, the process should be free of bureaucratic tangles.”

Hasan also recommended setting up an intellectual property registration office at every division so that small entrepreneurs do not need to come to Dhaka.

It will be more convenient for entrepreneurs if the system is digitalised, he added, saying that the online system should provide services to entrepreneurs easily.

Syed Md Ihsanul Karim, former managing director of the SME Foundation, said a huge number of entrepreneurs did not even know about the importance of intellectual property registration. “So, awareness should be raised first,” he said.

At the same time, the registration system should be very easy and digitalised to bring all innovations under the IP registration, he added.

Mohiuddin Al Farooq, deputy registrar for administration and finance at the DPDT, admitted that the registration process took a lot of time but cited some reasons for it.

“We have only 80 employees now, so how can we provide services fast? The matter of hope is that the government is going to employ more officers here,” he said, adding that the registration office had started to digitalise the system too.

Md Safiqul Islam, managing director of the foundation, chaired the seminar.