The National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the US Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Business Software Alliance (BSA), held a workshop recently, at the Hotel Galadari in Colombo. The event, held in cooperation with the Sri Lankan Attorney General’s office, informed legal officers from the Sri Lankan Government about current intellectual property law within Sri Lanka and international instruments for enforcing intellectual property laws.

The workshop served as a forum for discussing emerging trends in national and international intellectual property law. Topics discussed included civil litigation against the infringement of intellectual property rights, the relative effectiveness of criminal sanctions in combating piracy of copyrighted material, and intellectual property’s role in economic and social development. Speakers included Dr. D.M. Karunaratna, the Director General of the National Intellectual Property Office, the Justice Saleem Marsoof  PC, a Judge of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court, and Dominic Keating of USPTO. The chief guest was the Attorney General Mohan Peiris PC.