India continues to languish near the bottom in an international intellectual property index, ranking 43rd out of 45 global economies, according to a report by the US Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC).
The report includes 90 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and grades countries on patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, enforcement and international treaties.
However, India's overall score has increased marginally to 25 per cent (8.75 out of 35) in the fifth edition from 24 per cent (7.05 out of 30) in the fourth edition. This reflects a relatively mixed performance in the five new indicators added in the fifth edition. This is the third consecutive year that India has achieved a marginal increase in overall score. However, it continues to remain near the bottom of the Index. The slight improvement is in large measure due to a relatively strong performance on the five new indicators included in the Index than in any actual improvements to their national IP environments.
"In India, many of the same challenges to innovation remain. Although it has made incremental progress, the government needs to build upon the positive rhetoric of its IPR policy with the substantial legislative reforms that innovators need," David Hirschmann, President and CEO of GIPC, said in a statement.
"If Indian policymakers wish to deliver the kinds of results the Modi administration once hoped for, they can act to address issues that impact Indian innovation, such as software patentability, life sciences patents, copyright protection and enforcement, and trade secrets protection, " he added.
In addition to its anaemic IPR policy, the report cited challenges with the scope of patentability for computer-implemented inventions, Section 3(D) of the Indian Patent Act, and the recent Delhi High Court decision regarding photocopying copyrighted content.
On the contrary, in India, for instance, several developments have had a pronounced negative impact. Of note is the High Court of Delhi judgment in the long-running case between some of the world's leading academic publishers (including Oxford and Cambridge University presses as well as Taylor & Francis) and the University of Delhi and a local photocopy shop.
In a significant blow to rights holders, not only did the court find nothing wrong with the University of Delhi providing a photocopied master-copy of course texts for students to photocopy themselves in the university library, but it also did not object to the obvious commercial gain derived from the copy shop for providing this service. Confusingly, while in December 2016 the case was set to be heard again in 2017 (following the intervention by a division bench of the Delhi High Court), no accompanying court order was given to suspend the ongoing and widespread infringement of the rights holders' copyright.
BW Reporters
Naina Sood is a Economics graduate and has done her post graduation in International economics and Trade. She has deep interests in Indian economy and reforms
