Sri Lanka is eager to improve its protection of intellectual property rights, key officials said at a recent meeting between Sri Lankan and U.S. authorities at the 14th Grade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council Meeting in Colombo. 

The meeting included discussions on a “wide range of crucial issues,” the Colombo Gazette reported. Both delegations addressed policies impacting the investment climate, recent labour reforms, intellectual property protection and enforcement, customs and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade and market access for apparel, gem and jewellery and agricultural products. 

The newspaper reported that the discussions also extended to collaboration and technical assistance in areas such as the digital economy, gem and jewellery industry, floriculture, boat building sectors and the Coconut Research Institute’s technology transfer and research commercialization. The United States underscored the importance of adopting robust anti-corruption measures and Sri Lanka provided updates on its proposed anticorruption legislation, seeking technical assistance and training from the U.S. government. 

The country’s Customs department made headlines in August when it destroyed SLRs88 million (US$272,000) worth of counterfeit goods. Among the more than 62,900 pieces of counterfeit goods were oil filters, data cables and phone chargers, according to EconomyNext. 

“What we see from our perspective is that we have a bound duty on the right holders to protect their rights,” Sudattha Silva, senior director of Customs, said. “Once they register their products after immense investment of R&D and they bring products to the market, there are some segments that immediately produce counterfeit products and sneak into the market.” 

EconomyNext also reported that Sri Lanka Customs in a separate statement said the destruction is part of a broader strategy to curb the circulation of fake products that not only undermine legitimate businesses but also pose potential risks to customers. 

“The operation also highlights the need for public awareness regarding the risks associated with purchasing counterfeit goods. Consumers are urged to be vigilant when making purchases, especially online, and to support legitimate businesses that uphold quality and safety,” it said. “These counterfeit goods make significant consequences to the customers. Several mobile phone explosion incidents have been reported in Sri Lanka, due to the use of counterfeited and substandard quality of mobile phone chargers and batteries.” 

It is against this backdrop that we bring you Sri Lanka’s IP Experts, a list of 15 key intellectual property lawyers in Sri Lanka. Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.  

All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s Sri Lanka IP Experts. – GREGORY GLASS 

Sri Lanka’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to in-house counsel in Sri Lanka, Asia and elsewhere around the world, as well as South Asia-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel.  

The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of the editorial team at Asia IP, which has nearly 45 years of collective experience in researching and understanding Sri Lanka’s legal market. 

All private practice intellectual property lawyers in Sri Lanka were eligible for inclusion in the nominations process; there were no fees or any other requirements for inclusion in the process. 

The names of our 15 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.