New IPR (Intellectual Property Rights ) policy

• The government has announced a new intellectual property policy, speeding up the online registration of patents and trademarks.
• The new policy seeks to encourage innovation and improve access to healthcare, food security and environmental protection.
• The IPR policy approved by the Cabinet comes in the backdrop of the US Trade Representative (USTR) where USA retained India on the ‘Priority Watch List’ for “lack of sufficient measurable improvements to its IPR framework.”

Highlights of the policy:

• The Policy aims to push IPRs as a marketable financial asset, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, while protecting public interest.
• The plan will be reviewed every five years in consultation with stakeholders.
• The policy is entirely compliant with the WTO’s agreement on TRIPS.
• Special thrust on awareness generation and effective enforcement of IPRs, besides encouragement of IP commercialisation through various incentives.
• India will engage constructively in the negotiation of international treaties and agreements in consultation with stakeholders. The government will examine accession to some multilateral treaties which are in India's interest, and become a signatory to those treaties which India has de facto implemented to enable it to participate in their decision making process, the policy said.
• It suggests making the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) the nodal agency for all IPR issues. Copyrights related issues will also come under DIPP’s ambit from that of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.
• Trademark offices have been modernised, and the aim is to reduce the time taken for examination and registration to just 1 month by 2017.
• Films, music, industrial drawings will be all covered by copyright.
• The Policy also seeks to facilitate domestic IPR filings, for the entire value chain from IPR generation to commercialization. It aims to promote research and development through tax benefits.
• Proposal to create an effective loan guarantee scheme to encourage start-ups.
• It also says “India will continue to utilise the legislative space and flexibilities available in international treaties and the TRIPS Agreement.” These flexibilities include the sovereign right of countries to use provisions such as Section 3(d) and CLs for ensuring the availability of essential and life-saving drugs at affordable prices.
• The policy left the country’s patent laws intact and specifically did not open up Section 3(d) of the Patents Act, which sets the standard for what is considered an invention in India, for reinterpretation.

Seven objectives of policy

• IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion – To create public awareness about the economic, social and cultural benefits of IPRs among all sections of society.
• Generation of IPRs : To stimulate the generation of IPRs.
• Legal and Legislative Framework : To have strong and effective IPR laws, which balance the interests of rights owners with larger public interest.
• Administration and Management : To modernize and strengthen service-oriented IPR administration.
• Commercialization of IPRs : Get value for IPRs through commercialization.
• Enforcement and Adjudication:  To strengthen the enforcement and adjudicatory mechanisms for combating IPR infringements.
• Human Capital Development : To strengthen and expand human resources, institutions and capacities for teaching, training, research and skill building in IPRs.

By: Vishal