Laxmi Capital News
Weak IPR laws obstacle for growth of start-ups

The weak intellectual property rights (IPR) are the major bottleneck forstart-ups to flourish in the country.

Though there is availability of venture capital forfinancing new ideas generated by the youth in the country, the weak IPR lawshave been hampering the growth of start-ups.

Speakers at the International Entrepreneurship Conclave, inKathmandu, organised by the Embassy of India in collaboration with Clock bBusiness Innovations, have urged for facilitation in bringing venture capitalin the country and introduction of a robust IPR regime for start-ups toflourish.

Stating that start-ups have transformed into billion-dollarcompanies in many countries with the right investment and IPR laws, expertsstated that Nepal should not remain in isolation regarding international IPRlaws. They also informed that the country’s IPR laws must be compatible withglobal norms, values and practices. Experts also emphasised that fosteringstart-ups are crucial for entrepreneurship development and cited examples ofEric Schmidt of Google, Phil Knight of Nike and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook whohave become household names across the world.

The general practice in Nepal is that whoever firstregisters a trademark  is considered the valid copyright owner irrespectiveof how popular that particular trademark is worldwide and where it isregistered and this policy been hindering the growth of start-ups, the expertssaid.

Experts also highlighted the prospects of start-upsflourishing in the country. SushilPokharel, chief executive officer of SushmitGroup and an angel investor in the country, said that the weak intellectualproperty rights laws have not only been hindering start-ups but also creatingobstacles in attracting foreign investment. Meanwhile, the government has beendrafting a law based on an integrated IPR policy that was launched last year.

Source : The HimalayanTimes, 25th March 2018

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