The United States has opted to retain India on its Special 301 Priority Watch list relating to protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), claiming “lack of sufficient measurable improvements” in India’s IPR framework despite New Delhi taking “positive steps”.
In its annual Special 301 assessment on global intellectual property protection and enforcement, released on Wednesday, the Office of the US Trade Representative spoke of its option to conduct an out-of-cycle review of India should developments, positive or negative, weigh in favour of a review ahead of the annual cycle.
In all, 11 countries, including India, China and Russia, are placed on the Priority Watch list and will be the subject of intense bilateral engagement on this score in the coming year. Twenty-three other countries, including Pakistan, are placed a tier lower on the Watch list.
“Intellectual property is a critical source of economic growth and high-quality jobs for the United States, and it is more important than ever to prevent foreign governments and competitors from ripping off United States innovators who are trying to support high-paying jobs by exporting their goods and services to consumers around the world,” said US Trade Representative Michael Froman while releasing the Obama administration’s final Special 301 report.
On India, the report welcomed the efforts of the Modi Government to promote IPR within India and the steps it has taken to strengthen protection and enforcement. It conceded that India has maintained strong channels of engagement with the United States on IPR issues, improved communication with industry stakeholders, and taken positive steps to address or avoid further erosions of the IPR regime. “However, at the same time, India has not taken the opportunity to address long-standing and systemic deficiencies in its IPR regime and has endorsed problematic policies that may leave open the door for backsliding in the future,” the report said, adding the US continues to prioritize making progress on IPR issues through the High level Working Group on Intellectual Property, established by President Obama and Prime Minister Modi.
“Attention to our IPR priorities and action to resolve concerns through bilateral fora can benefit both the United States and India. The IP Working Group will continue to prioritise substantive and measurable action,” it said. The report also spoke of new concerns in some other areas, including India’s proposed Patent Rule Amendments on “new incentives to pressure patent applicants to localise manufacturing in India and require the submission of sensitive business information to India’s Patent Office”.