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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Policy on intellectual property rights likely in six months
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Policy on intellectual property rights likely in six months

Commerce and industry ministry to establish an IPR-related think tank to keep itself abreast of global developments

Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman says India is strong in IPR and wants to protect its interest. Photo: PIBPremium
Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman says India is strong in IPR and wants to protect its interest. Photo: PIB

New Delhi: The government said on Monday it is working to introduce a stronger policy in six months’ time to protect India’s traditional as well as modern intellectual property from being challenged by multinational companies.

The move to bring out a comprehensive intellectual property rights (IPRs) policy comes as India faces growing challenges to its IPR regime and developed countries try to put in place an even stronger IPR framework through mega regional trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The commerce and industry ministry, which deals with IPR matters, will also establish an IPR-related think tank soon to keep itself abreast of international developments on IPR matters.

The IPR policy could be devised in such a way that it will provide direction on where the country is going in terms of protecting its IPRs, including its traditional medicines, commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters on the occasion of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government completing its first 100 days in office.

“We are very strong in IPR and we want to protect our national interest. That does not mean we are going to be regressive or restrictive, but it is the duty and right of the government to protect the IPR of our country," she said.

“When we are going for arbitration on IPR, others are picking holes because we don’t have an IPR policy. The lack of policy has really curbed us from establishing our rights in a forceful way. Once you have a policy in place, you know how to move forward," Sitharaman added.

Leena Menghaney, campaign coordinator (India) for Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders, a non-government organization, said intellectual property is a social policy too and the government should use it for public health, public interest and industrial policy.

“Delinking the issue of research and development from patents should happen under this policy. It is a myth that only if you have intellectual property (laws) will you have innovation. South Africa has been issuing product patents for two decades, but they have not contributed a single new drug. There are other innovative models adopted across the world which are more collaborative and more open-source," she added.

Secretary in the industry ministry Amitabh Kant said though India has a very well-established legal framework for IPRs, the country must put in place a policy framework “for the entire world to know".

“We will prepare the policy in the next four months and then open it for public debate and discussion for the next two months," Kant said, adding all pending IPR demands will be cleared within the next 18 months.

Sitharaman said her ministry will soon create a think-tank that will enable the government to handle IPR issues more firmly and which will “constantly keep us informed on IPR matters in the international arena".

The US has led complaints about a poor IPR regime in India, threatening to downgrade the country to “priority foreign country", which could invite sanctions on India.

Earlier this year, through its annual Special 301 report released by the office of the US Trade Representative, Washington kept India under a “priority watch list", deferring a decision to September-November on whether to further downgrade the country for alleged violations of IPR.

India has maintained that its IPR regime is in sync with the trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) agreement of the World Trade Organization and has used flexibilities available within that framework. The US has been complaining against India’s policy towards compulsory licensing of pharmaceutical products, holding that it may weaken the global patent regime under TRIPS.

In 2012, India’s Controller General of Patents passed an order allowing Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma Ltd to manufacture and market a copy of Bayer AG’s liver and kidney cancer drug Nexavar—the first time an Indian firm was granted a so-called compulsory licence, which permits a generic drug producer to make and sell its version of a patented drug without the consent of the patent holder.

Sitharaman also said that the NDA government is clear that it would not allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail trade. While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been consistent in opposing FDI in multi-brand retail, highlighting the issue in its election manifesto, it has not notified withdrawing the policy of the earlier government allowing foreign investment in the sector.

The United Progressive Alliance government had allowed 51% FDI in multi-brand retail sector.

Sitharaman said there is no urgency for withdrawing the notification since there are no proposals from foreign multibrand chains pending before her department. The minister also said that the same FDI ban applies to e-commerce companies, too.

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Published: 08 Sep 2014, 05:00 PM IST
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