India remains one of the world’s most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of IP. The pace of reform has not matched high-level calls to foster innovation and promote creativity. India was listed on the Priority Watch List in USTR’s Special 301 report for 2018. The country continues to remain the home to several "Notorious Markets" across the breadth of the country, according to USTR’s latest report.
Recent Developments Intellectual Property Index 2018 The US Chamber of Commerce’s intellectual property rights advocacy arm, Global Innovation Policy Centre (GIPC), has ranked India 44th out of 50 countries in terms of suitability of IP climate. India, however, gives no formal recognition to such rankings and has in the past even dismissed criticism heaped on its IPR regime by the US government as part of its annual US 301 report. Key Points
South African Intellectual Property Policy and Lesson for India South Africa has recently adopted a new Intellectual Property Policy, which seeks to align IP with the country’s national development plan.
Lessons for India In comparison to South Africa, India does have a history of considering national needs while complying with international IP obligations. As a result, the Indian Patents Act, along with various judicial decisions, has provided a balanced framework for the protection of public health, food security, and transfer of technology. However, India’s IP Policy adopted in 2016 overlooks the legislative intent and policy objective behind the patent regime - something that other nations are taking note of-
Evergreening of Patents Rampant Despite a Strong Law As per the recent reports, evergreening of patents is rampant in India, despite having a strong anti-evergreening law in place.
India’s Attempt to Stop Evergreening A key highlight in the Indian law is Section 3(d) of The Patents Act, 1970, which was introduced in 2005 as a yardstick to distinguish real innovation from trivial tweaks.
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Intellectual Property (IP) is a term referring to a brand, invention, design or other kind of creation, which a person or business has legal rights over. Almost all businesses own some form of IP, which could be a business asset. Common types of IP includes-
IPR Development in India : Landmark Years 1967
1972
1994
1995
1997
1998
2001
2002
2005
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Significance of Patents in India
Intellectual Property Legislations in India
Treaties and Reciprocal Agreements
India is signatory to the following international IP agreements-
Data Protection Laws in India Data Protection refers to the set of privacy laws, policies and procedures that aim to minimize intrusion into one’s privacy caused by the collection, storage and dissemination of personal data. Personal data generally refers to the information or data which relate to a person who can be identified from that information or data whether collected by any Government or any private organization or an agency. The Constitution of India does not patently grant the fundamental right to privacy. The Government has notified the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011. The Rules only deals with protection of “Sensitive personal data or information of a person”, which includes such personal information which consists of information relating to:-
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