SRI LANKA: Getting Ready for Madrid Ratification

The Honorable Mrs. Geethanjali R. Ranawaka, Director General of the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka (NIPO), spoke before the Asia and Pacific Subcommittee of the Trademark Office Practices Committee on July 20, during its monthly meeting about the steps her office had taken to prepare for ratification to the Madrid System.

Speaking on the topic of IP Updates and Challenges in Office Practices in Sri Lanka, Mrs. Ranawaka said that she was able to clear a backlog of 33,000 untouched applications filed between 2013 and 2017 by requesting the Ministry of Trade’s approval for a special project that would provide financial incentives for examiners to work after office hours and on weekends. In addition, she increased cadre positions from 65 in 2013 to 100 in 2019 and filled all eight vacancies at executive grade officer level in intellectual property (IP) divisions by 2019.

She also succeeded in getting the government to recruit 30 university graduates and assigning them as NIPO development officers. They were trained as trademark, design, and patent examiners, and in support services. These officers continue to work at NIPO.

Simultaneously, she embarked on IP development activities, including capacity building and raising IP awareness, with the assistance of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program, the Korean Intellectual Property Office and other IP offices. She also initiated links with universities and science and technology institutions for the commercialization of IP-protected work and technology transfer.

In 2022, Mrs. Ranawaka lobbied the Sri Lankan parliament to approve Amendment Act No. 8 of 2022, amending Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003, ratifying the Marrakesh Treaty, and facilitating the registration of geographical indications in Sri Lanka.

All the above activities not only contributed to raising the level of IP awareness in Sri Lanka but prepared it for accession to the Madrid Protocol. According to Mrs. Ranawaka, the Madrid System is the one-stop, cost-effective solution to obtaining and maintaining trademark protection in about 130 jurisdictions.

The government gave the nod for Sri Lanka to accede to the Madrid Protocol on February 23, 2020. NIPO is finalizing the draft enabling legislation for ratification of the international agreement.

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