ISLAMABAD:  For Sialkot businesses, reaching for gold in Intellectual Property (IP) and sports is more than just this year’s World IP Day theme – it’s their business model. 

While many Pakistanis take pride in how the 2018 FIFA World Cup used soccer balls made in Pakistan, few know how the patents registered by Pakistani innovators have helped create jobs and boost the economy at home.

The U.S. Embassy, Sialkot-based innovators, and local universities learned the value of the intellectual property from Pakistani manufacturers during events to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day.

The seminars at the National University of Science and Technology and Fatima Jinnah University showcased members of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and how their sports industry thrived after patenting their creations.

As sports business has become a multibillion-dollar industry worldwide, the Sialkot businessmen explained how they registered their intellectual property to help earn Pakistan $500 million in sports equipment exports every year.  

ISLAMABAD: U.S. Embassy Economic Counselor Michael Sullivan held that for any industry or country, protection of the intellectual property was essential for growth, but Sialkot’s businesses had shown the true value of IP to Pakistan.

PS: World IP Day was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2000 to raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks, and designs impact daily life, promote creativity, and celebrate the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe.