Mr.
Kirthisiri Jayasinghe established this firm in the year 1993 on
his retirement as Sri Lanka’s first Registrar of Patents and
Trademarks. Mr. Jayasinghe, an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court
of Sri Lanka is now in his 45th year of practice of his profession,
25 years of which he served in Sri Lanka’s Intellectual Property
Office. He is a member of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and of
the European Lawyers Association.
In 1991 the
United Nations specialized agency, the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO) awarded him a Gold Medal in appreciation of
the impetus he had given to the drive for the protection of Intellectual
Property Rights in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Jayasinghe, during his tenure of office as Registrar
of Patent and Trademarks of Sri Lanka, in addition to the administration
and management of Intellectual Property in this country has largely
contributed to the promotion and protection of Inventive Activity
in Sri Lanka and to international cooperation in the field of Industrial
Property. He was also a member of the Committee which drafted Sri
Lanka’s Code of Intellectual Property Act in 1979 and undertook
its administration under a newly formed Department as Sri Lanka’s
first Registrar of Patents & Trademarks.
In the field of International Cooperation, Mr. Jayasinghe
was responsible for the organization of the WIPO World Patent Symposium
in Colombo in 1977 and the World Trademark Symposium in 1982 also
in Colombo. He was also responsible for the organization of the
annual WIPO Regional Training Course in Intellectual Property in
Colombo for countries of Asia and the Pacific for eight consecutive
years.
Mr. Jayasinghe also led the 1986 joint UNDP-WIPO
Evaluation and Needs Assessment Mission on straightening and making
effective use of the Intellectual Property System in the developing
counties in Asia and the Pacific. The recommendations of this Mission
were implemented in the Region for a period of five years.
Mr. Jayasinghe has represented Sri Lanka at many International Conferences
on the subject of Intellectual Property, including those held under
the auspices of the United Nations in Manila, Geneva, Bangkok, New
Delhi, Seoul, Tokyo, Stockholm, Dhaka & Colombo. In 1989 Mr.
Jayasinghe represented Sri Lanka at a Diplomatic Conference in Washington
for the conclusion of an International Treaty for the Protection
of Integrated Circuits and in 1991 at the Diplomatic Conference
at the Hague attended by 92 countries for the drafting of a Treaty
Harmonizing the Patent laws of the World.
|