Dr. Pratyush Nath Upreti

Great to brief a statement on Agenda Item 24 o at Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO: Fifty-Sixth Series of Meetings — 2016

By Pratyush Nath Upreti Earlier this year, the Nepal Government released its long-awaited first national intellectual property policy, after becoming the first least developed country (LDC) to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 23 April 2004. The National Intellectual Property Policy of Nepal, released on 6 March, is available here [pdf]. During the accession negotiation of the WTO, Nepal presented an ‘Action Plan for Implementation of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Protection’ which highlights the actions already taken by Nepal and future roadmaps to develop an IP system within an estimated timeline. Unfortunately, the action plan, suggesting drafting of the national IP code, never came into practice. Being an LDC, Nepal enjoys the status of the transition period under the TRIPS Agreement and has been receiving technical support from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Nepal is in the midst of a political transition,

My preliminary comment on Nepal's First National Intellectual Property Policy-2017 Pratyush Nath Upreti, Nepal’s first national IP policy, 2017: never too late, The Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, Oxford University Press-2017

Pratyush Nath Upreti Apr 26, 2017- The theme of this year’s World Intellectual Property Day which falls on April 26 is ‘Innovation-Improving Lives’. According to Global Innovation Index 2016, Nepal is in the 115th position among 128 countries which shows that we are lagging behind in building an innovative society. Last year, Nepal witnessed several cases of online piracy which aroused strong protests from the movie industry. The most widely publicised case was that of the film Chhakka Panja which was illegally copied and posted on Facebook. The perpetrator eventually committed suicide. Another case was that of the film Chha Ekan Chha. The perpetrator was identified but no action was taken, leading newspapers to report that he had been forgiven. Exerting pressure It would not be possible to make illegal copies of films without the involvement of the production team, but production houses are unwilling to initiate legal proceedings against team members. There is no lack of lega