Intellectual Property, Consumer Protection

Intellectual Property

Patents, trademarks and trade names, copyrights, and trade secrets are all examples of intellectual property. These properties are frequently stolen, which costs the owners money. To oversee international property accords, organizations like the World Trade Organization's TRIPS and the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) were established.

• A patent is an exclusive right that the government grants the creator of a product or process to manufacture, use, and sell their innovation. Patents give inventions a property right.
• Trademarks and trade names are designs and names that are frequently officially registered and are used by manufacturers or retailers to distinguish and brand their goods. These are often utilized in contemporary marketing to preserve brand identification and aid in product promotion. The seller's exclusive right to use the brand name or brand symbol is safeguarded by a trademark.
• Authors, composers, playwrights, artists, and publishers have the sole legal right to publish and dispose of their works thanks to copyrights. However, a work must be an original production in order to be protected by copyright.
• Any knowledge a company intends to keep private is considered a trade secret. Thus, all of these phrases have unique meaning in the business world.

Consumer Protection

The 1977 Black Market and Some Other Social Crime and Punishment Act was passed to control the market and keep an eye on product and service prices. Selling goods for an inflated price is a crime under this Act and is subject to punishment. The Food Act of 1966 is another piece of law designed to safeguard consumers. This law was designed to protect the public's health and stop any unfavorable adulteration of the staple meal. Therefore, it is forbidden to sell, distribute, store, or produce any food item that is subpar, adulterated, or detrimental to human health. The Act gives the Chief District Officer the power to identify violators, establish jurisdiction over them, and take appropriate legal action. In 1980, the Nepal Standardization Act was passed. In accordance with this Act's requirements, the Nepal Council of Standards was founded in 1982. This Council's role is to decide on the standards for various products and evaluate those standards as and when appropriate while taking the standards established by pertinent national and international authorities into account. In order to carry out the Council's resolution, the Nepal Bureau of Standards was established in 1982. The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology was given the name change in 1987. The Bureau has so far validated 577 goods from 76 various industries. Except for a few products including iron rods, cement, mineral water, and liquefied petroleum gas, standardization is not required in Nepal. The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards have been adopted by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology. International Organization for Standards is referred to as ISO. The ISO is a set of standards that have been universally accepted and that outline the requirements for a top-notch quality management system. In order to prepare for ISO 9000 certification, the Bureau has been advising the Nepalese manufacturing facility to implement the elements of quality system standards. To raise knowledge of the ISO 9000 standard, FNCCI, NCC, and other relevant organizations have been holding training sessions and seminars. An international organization called SGS has previously granted ISO 9000 certification to some businesses. The Consumer Protection Act of 1998 is another piece of law that is expressly designed to safeguard the rights and interests of consumers. This law may be the most extensive one in the nation for safeguarding the rights of consumers. The Act guards against fraud, deceptive advertising, and abnormalities in the quality of consumer goods.

The Minister of Supplies is the leader of the Central Consumer Protection Council, a body at the central level. This Council develops initiatives and regulations to safeguard all consumers' interests. The CDO has the authority to hear the dispute, resolve it, and decide how much should be paid to the harmed party at the operational level. Consumers are entitled to the following rights under the Act:

• Rights to avoid harming consumer goods for one's life, health, and property;
• The right to be informed about the cost, availability, and quantity of consumer goods in order to be protected against fraud;
• Right to assurance that a variety of goods are available at affordable rates;
• The assurance that one will be heard by the proper authorities on the protection of consumer interests;
• Hearing and compensation rights
• Consumer training.

Reference

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_protection

Pant, P. R. (2009). Business Environment in Nepal (SIXTH ed.). Kathmandu, Nepal: Buddha Academic Publishers and Distributers.

wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/450/wipo_pub_450.pdf