How much down the trips plus path

How much down the trips plus path

It is notable that India’s ranking in the 2019 global Intellectual Property Index has risen to 36, up eight places from 44, the largest increase for the second successive year. This suggests significant improvement in the IP protection regime and attendant reforms to boost innovation. The Global Innovation Policy Centre (GIPC) of the US Chamber of Commerce compiles the annual rankings and tracks 45 parameters concerning patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets for the index.

India’s rank has risen due, among reasons cited, to accession to international treaties and copyright standards, generous incentives for IP creation, including in the small and medium enterprise sector, and also for strong awareness-generating efforts to tackle piracy and counterfeiting. The latest GIPC report provides figures to show that improved IP protection makes economies twice as likely to export knowledge-intensive products and services, 53% more likely to employ high-skilled and well-paid workers, and 55% more likely to better adapt cutting-edge technology.

The latest GIPC report notes weaknesses in India’s IP regime, in that there are barriers to licensing and technology transfer, lengthy pre-patent grant opposition proceedings, the precedence of compulsory licensing in non-emergency situations and patentability requirements not quite in keeping with global norms. The US wants nations to adopt norms that go beyond alignment with World Trade Organisation’s Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). India needs a rigorous examination of what the contours of a TRIPs-plus regime should be and what these would mean for the country’s extant industry and the knowledge economy Indian industry wants to build. Some change would be warranted, but India must decide what kind.