NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh Ministry of Justice plans to create an intellectual property rights coordination centre to secure investments and protect intellectual property using the experience of the U.S.-based National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre (NIPRCC).
Marat Beketayev
Operating under the Department of Homeland Security since 2000, NIPRCC unites 23 organisations including 19 key federal agencies and Interpol, Europol and the Canadian and Mexican governments. The centre, industry representatives and public and private sector stakeholders coordinate joint initiatives in the fight against counterfeiting, infringement and theft of intellectual property.
“The increase of the country’s investment attractiveness and strengthening a favourable legal regime for foreign investors requires effective measures to ensure intellectual property rights, including in cyberspace. Uniting the efforts of law enforcement and other agencies as part of a single focal point using U.S. experience can contribute to this process,” said a ministry spokesperson.
According to the ministry, the group structure allows efficient use of the resources and skills of each participating department, providing a quick response to intellectual property theft.
The law on improving legislation in intellectual property was adopted last year, said Minister of Justice Marat Beketayev at the June 14 public meeting.
“It includes key innovations to create a single-level system of registration of intellectual property, to introduce the institute of compensation for damage in violation of trademark rights and electronic registration of copyright and to reduce the time of registration from 20 days to a one-day period. These measures will create a favourable investment climate and stimulate the innovative activity of inventors,” he added.
The National Institute of Intellectual Property will be located at the EXPO site with a front office at the Astana Hub.
The ministry also intends to introduce laws aimed at easing sanctions for administrative offenses, separating powers between the court and government agencies and transferring proceedings on administrative offenses to electronic format.
The ministry has completely converted regulatory legal act registration into electronic format, reducing its terms from 15 to five days. The changes are important for regulating social issues. The E-legislation information system for legislative assistance is operating in pilot mode.
Approximately 211 legal experts conducted research in Israel, Lithuania, Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the U.K. and the U.S. as part of the project in cooperation with the World Bank.
The draft law concept was developed based on the results of analysing the forensic examination system. Approximately 232 employees completed training courses and 25 lawyers studied in residency programmes.
The forensic centre joined the Asian Forensic Expertise Community (AFSN) this year, allowing experts to share experiences and receive information about the latest developments in the field.
