SRI LANKA NOMINEE: USPTO GIPA PROGRAM ON COPYRIGHT IN THE

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001869 SIPDIS STATE PLEASE PASS TO USPTO BARBARA MCCAFFREY SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR AORC CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA NOMINEE: USPTO GIPA PROGRAM ON COPYRIGHT IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT JANUARY 23-26, 2007 Ref: State 181880 ¶1. Post is pleased to submit the following nomination for the USPTO Global Intellectual Property academy (GIPA) program on copyright in the digital environment, from January 23-26, 2007. ¶2. Name: D. M. Karunaratna Designation: Director General, National Intellectual Property Office Source of Funding: Requests USPTO funding. Justification: D M Karunaratna heads the national intellectual property office which is charged with the administration of the National Intellectual Property System. Dr Karunaratne was responsible for drafting the current IPR law of Sri Lanka. Currently, he is facilitating its enforcement. Dr. Karunaratna works closely with a US Embassy/American Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka led IPR advocacy group. He teaches IPR law at several post graduate institutes in Sri Lanka. He is a member of the Intellectual Property Advisory Commission of Sri Lanka. He was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C. Dr Karunaratne has undergone specialized training in intellectual property law at World Intellectual Property Organization Academy, Geneva, the Canadian intellectual property office and the Swedish intellectual property office. ¶3. The Embassy strongly supports the applications of D M Karunaratne, the key government official charged with IPR protection and enforcement in Sri Lanka. He will benefit from the latest developments in advance copyright law as applied in the digital environment imparted by this program. ¶5. The applicant's bio data will be sent separately to Barbara Mccaffrey of USPTO. ¶6. Post thanks USPTO for hosting this training program. Post contacts for this program will be Richard Merrin, Economic Officer (email: merrinrc@state.gov) and Manohari Dharmadasa, Economic Specialist (email: dharmadasamc@state.gov with a copy to Commercialcolombo@state.gov). BLAKE