Context: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 2nd December 2020, in the field of Intellectual Property Cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Department of Commerce of the United States of America.

MoU aims at:

The MoU aims at increasing IP co-operation between the two countries by way of:

• Facilitating exchange and dissemination of best practices, experiences and knowledge on IP among the public, and between and among the industry, universities, research and development (R & D) organizations, and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises through participation in programs and events organized singly or jointly by the Participants;
• Collaboration in training programs, exchange of experts, technical exchanges and outreach activities;
• Exchange of information and best practices on processes for registration and examination of applications for patents, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, and industrial designs, as well as the protection, enforcement and use of IP rights;
• Exchange of information on the development and implementation of automation and modernization projects, new documentation and information systems in IP and procedures for management of IP Office services;
• Cooperation to understand various issues related to traditional knowledge, and the exchange of best practices, including those related to traditional knowledge databases and awareness raising on the use of existing IP systems for the protection of traditional knowledge; and
• Other cooperation activities as may be mutually decided by the Participants.
• It will be a landmark step forward in India’s journey towards becoming a major player in global innovation and will further the objectives of National IPR Policy, 2016.

About National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) 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 commercialisation.
• It aims to promote research and development through tax benefits.
• Proposal to create an effective loan guarantee scheme to encourage start-ups.
• India will continue to utilise the legislative space and flexibilities available in international treaties and the TRIPS Agreement.”
• 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.
• On compulsory licensing (CL), under the Indian Patents Act, a CL can be issued for a drug if the medicine is deemed unaffordable, among other conditions, and the government grants permission to qualified generic drug makers to manufacture it.
• The IPR policy favoured the government considering financial support for a limited period on sale and export of products based on IPRs generated from public-funded research.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1678004

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