Suganthie heads Sri Lanka’s IP commission
View(s):Suganthie Kadirgamar has been appointed as the new Chairperson of Intellectual Property Advisory Commission of Sri Lanka (IPACSL), for a new 3 year term ,the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said.
Ms. Kadirgamar is the Senior Partner of Sri Lanka’s oldest law firm, F. J. & G. de Saram.
Picture shows the Minister handing over the appointment letter to Mrs. Suganthie Kadirgamar.
Other members of the commission are J.M. Swaminathan (Attorney at Law and senior partner of Julius and Creasy); Dinal Philips (Attorney at Law); Anura Jayasinghe (Attorney at Law); Palitha Gamage (Attorney at Law); S. Subairtheen (former banker), Gazzali Hussain (Attorney at Law); Nadeesha Guruge (Musician), MKM Sajath (Attorney at Law), and Dr Danister Perera (Ayurveda Physician) with Geethanjali Ranawaka (Director-General of Intellectual Property) as the ex-officio member. The appointments were made by Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen.
Mr. Swaminathan, a long-standing member of the commission, was quoted in a ministry media release as saying that there is no provision under local law for copyright registration currently. “In other words, if you write a book, under the current system, and someone copies it, it is your duty to go to the courts and prove that you have authored it. With the forthcoming changes to our copyright laws, the author can do an optional registration of the book as soon as it is completed so that there is a proof of title benefitting the author when a copyright claim arises,” he said.