The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan) has stepped up its engagement with Gujranwala’s industrial community through the establishment of an Intellectual Property Facilitation Desk at the Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and an awareness programme organized in collaboration with the All Pakistan Aluminium Utensils Manufacturers Association (APAUMA).
The initiatives aim to improve access to intellectual property services, encourage the registration and protection of trademarks, patents and industrial designs, and help local manufacturers strengthen their competitiveness in domestic and international markets.
Director General IPO-Pakistan, Nauman Aslam Sheikh, inaugurated the Facilitation Desk at GCCI during his visit to Gujranwala.
He was accompanied by Mueed Aman Rana, Director/In-charge of IPO-Pakistan’s Regional Office Lahore, and Shakra Khursheed, Senior Examiner (Patents), along with other officials.
The newly established Desk will provide guidance to entrepreneurs, manufacturers and businesses on intellectual property registration and protection, bringing IPO-Pakistan’s services closer to one of the country’s major industrial centres.
Addressing members of the business community, the Director General emphasized that intellectual property protection was essential for safeguarding business interests, encouraging innovation and enhancing the commercial value of Pakistani products.
He also highlighted recent institutional reforms and improvements in service delivery at IPO-Pakistan.
He informed participants that the backlog of trademark applications had been significantly reduced over the past year, while the registration period had declined from approximately two years to around eight months.
He further stated that an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism was being introduced to facilitate the timely settlement of intellectual property disputes.
The GCCI event was attended by its President, Ghulam Hussain Judge; Senior Vice President, Arshad Mughal; Vice President, Rana Muhammad Farhan Asghar; former President, Mian Umer Saleem; former Chairman GDA, Aamir Rehman; and former Vice President and Executive Member, Waqas Afzal Mughal, along with Executive Committee members and representatives of local industries.
The Chamber’s leadership welcomed the establishment of the Facilitation Desk and expressed confidence that it would help businesses better understand and protect their intellectual property rights.
In a separate engagement, IPO-Pakistan, in collaboration with APAUMA, organized an awareness session for the local manufacturing community.
The session focused on trademark registration, brand protection, patents and industrial designs, particularly their relevance to manufacturing enterprises seeking to protect their products, innovations and market identity.
The Director General attended the session as chief guest.
Participants were encouraged to recognize intellectual property as a valuable commercial asset and make greater use of the available legal mechanisms to protect their innovations and brands.
The two engagements form part of IPO-Pakistan’s broader efforts to strengthen institutional linkages with chambers of commerce, trade associations and industrial clusters across the country.
By improving access to intellectual property services, and promoting awareness among manufacturers, IPO-Pakistan aims to support innovation, business development and the competitiveness of Pakistani industry.
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