NEW
DELHI: India has announced
a new intellectual property policy on Friday, speeding up the online
registration of patents and trademarks.
Here is your 10-point
cheat-sheet to this story:
1.
Since Prime Minister
Narendra Modi took office in 2014, global drug brands led by US companies have
been pushing for changes to India's intellectual property rules.
2.
Global pharmaceuticals
players have often complained about India's price controls and marketing
restrictions.
3.
Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley said India will retain the right to issue so-called compulsory licenses
to its drug firms, under "emergency" conditions.
4.
The minister said and
there is no urgent need to change patent laws that are already fully World
Trade Organization-compliant.
5.
So India has resisted
pressure from the US and other Western countries to amend its patent laws.
6.
The new policy will
try to safeguard the interests of rights owners with the wider public interest,
while combating infringements of intellectual property rights, Mr Jaitley said.
7.
Commerce and
Industries Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told lawmakers last month that over
237,000 applications were pending in India's four patent offices.
8.
The Department of
Industrial Promotion and Policy will be the agency in charge of regulating
intellectual property rights in the country.
9.
Last month, the US
Trade Representative kept India, China and Russia on its "Priority Watch
List" for inadequate improvement in IPR protection.
10.
India, however, says,
it is party to the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS), a WTO agreement that sets minimum standards for intellectual property
regulation.
