Browsing by Author "Pathiraja, P.M.A.S."

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Legal Protection for the Plant Varieties in Sri Lanka: A Comparative Study
(3rd International Conference for Accounting Researchers and Educators - 2017, 2017) Pathiraja, P.M.A.S.
Sri Lanka has been identified as a rich biodiversity hotspot of species among flora and fauna in the world. Currently, its biodiversity is under threat due to the bio piracy. Sri Lanka has enacted some legislations to protect plant verities, which provide only the physical protection of the plant resources and the lack of proper legal protection for the genetic resources of plants is a great weakness of the existing legal framework in Sri Lanka. The importance of protecting plant varieties through intellectual property rights are addressed by the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual property rights, 1994 (TRIPS).Furthermore, the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, 1991 (UPOV) aims to encourage the development of new varieties of plants and provides some standards and guidelines for such protection. Accordingly, Sri Lanka has opted for a sui generis system for the protection of plant varieties and taken steps by introducing a Bill on Plant Variety Protection (Breeder’s Rights) which was drafted in 2001. Sixteen years later, there is still no progress regarding it. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to make suggestions to strengthen the draft Bill on Plant Variety Protection (Breeder’s Rights), 2001 in Sri Lanka and set a policy framework for establishing a legal, institutional and social infrastructure by analyzing the effectiveness of existing laws and regulations. The methodology adopted for this research is purely a qualitative approach and it is generally and specifically categorized. The comparative analysis of successful legal position in India has been used in order to strengthen the recommendations.
Necessity of Enhancing the Legal Protection for Software: A Sri Lankan Perspective.
(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya,Sri Lanka., 2017) Pathiraja, P.M.A.S.
In the era of knowledge based economy the nation’s economic status mainly depends on the production, distribution,and use of knowledge and information.Intellectual property rights play an important role in this competitive world by protecting the one’s own ideas, designs and products being copied or utilized without the proper authorization. With the development of the technological innovations across the world,the software industry has created the starting point of heated debates over the protection of software in the current intellectual property regime.According to the expanding trends in software industry it is difficult to identify the proper legal regime for its protection.Copyright or patent protection is the most effective way to protect such softwareand some legal systems suggest sui generis system of protection on software in the current context. Software as a literary work or innovation is mainly protected under the Intellectual Property Act no. 36 of 2003 in Sri Lanka.In the domestic scenario,throughout the last few years Sri Lanka has been experiencing high rate of increasing incidents regarding the misappropriation of software and software related inventions because of its vulnerability in the marketplaces.Thereforethis paper discusses the problem of protecting the software in Sri Lanka by analyzing the debate on protecting software through copyrights and patent law and critically discuss the patentability of software under the existing Intellectual Property Law in Sri Lanka.Furthermore it examines the arguments on patenting softwareand expect to make suggestions to strengthen the existing law as an option. This is a qualitative research based on literature review and mainly carried out by the reference of primary and secondary sources such as statutes, International treaties, judicial decisions, academic writings, journal articles and e-sources. The comparative analysis of successful legal position in selected jurisdictions have been followed in reaching the conclusion.
The Protection of Geographical Indications in Sri Lanka: Need of a Registration System
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Pathiraja, P.M.A.S.
In the era of knowledge based economy, the protection of industrial property rights plays an important role under the intellectual property law agenda. Among them, geographical indications (GIs) have been subjected to vigorous scholarly debate across the world in last two decades. GI as a distinctive sign, permits the identification of products on the market and protects the quality, reputation or other character of goods essentially attributable to their geographical origin. As a developing country Sri Lanka has varieties of natural resources with great economic value. Geographical Indications like Ceylon Tea, Ceylon Cinnamon, Ceylon sapphires are some of the major earners of foreign exchange in the country. Despite this GIs receive less attention when compared with other intellectual property rights. This has become a major issue in the development of law relating to GIs. Therefore, this paper discusses the problem of protecting products of geographical origin by exploring the laws available in Sri Lanka in terms of both domestic and international obligations. The present study expects to explore a domestic registration system of Geographical Indications as an option. It also expects to propose ways for strengthening the legal framework of the country in order to accord better protection for GI in Sri Lanka. This is a qualitative research based on literature review and mainly carried out by the reference of primary and secondary data such as statutes, International treaties, academic writings, journal articles and e-sources. The comparative analysis of successful legal position in selected jurisdictions such as, India have been followed in reaching the conclusion.
Sri Lankan Women and Sexual Harassments at Workplaces: In Search of Law Reforms
(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Pathiraja, P.M.A.S.
Greater participation of women in employment is a common practice in 21st century and it is important for their economic maintenance and sustainability. In the era of rights based approach, the right to work is an essential right of every person and it was noticed that the women are the most vulnerable group of victims under sexual harassment at workplaces. Sexual Harassment generally refers to any act (physical, verbal, gestural, visual, tacit or written) that inflicts physical, mental or other harm or annoyance based on another person’s gender and/or sexuality and it can be recognized as a violation of human rights and human dignity, which undermines the equal opportunities and treatment between men and women. In the domestic scenario, workplace sexual Harassment often goes unreported and women employees who experience the sexual harassment has failed to report the harassing behavior or to file a complaint because of the social or professional retaliation. According to the reported statistics, throughout the last two decades Sri Lanka has been experiencing high rate of increasing incidents regarding the sexual harassments towards the women at workplaces regardless of their social, economic or educational position. The problems at workplace, discourage women to continue working and it has become a significant threat to the working women in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, this paper aims to discuss the problem of protecting women from sexual harassments at workplaces by exploring the inadequacy of laws available in Sri Lanka in terms of both domestic and international obligations and set a policy framework for establishing a legal, institutional and social infrastructure by analyzing the effectiveness of existing laws and regulations. This research will mainly follow a qualitative research method based on a literature review and carried out by the reference of primary and secondary sources. Furthermore, the research was enhanced with the data collected through the interviews with State Department and relevant stakeholders in relation to protect women from sexual harassment at workplace. Amending the provisions of some existing legislations, making the employer vicariously liable for sexual harassment occur in workplaces, adopting relevant International Labour Organization (ILO) standards to domestic laws and public awareness are some recommendations on this matter. Moreover, this research examines successful lessons from India for the purpose of analysing the inadequacy of existing laws in Sri Lanka and offers suggestions to enhance prevailing legal framework to protect women from sexual harassments at workplaces in Sri Lanka