India, US agree to talk and resolve IPR issue
Updated: May 01, 2014 03:00:39pm
New Delhi, May 1 (KNN) India and the US have agreed to resolve the issues of IPRs troubling the American companies, through the institutional mechanism of bi-lateral trade policy forum (TPF), Commerce Secretary, Rajeev Kher said today.
Addressing the media, Kher said while the exact dates have not been fixed, the TPF meeting is likely to take place sometime in June or early July.
Kher told Deputy US Trade Representative, Wendy Cutler on telephone, “India had always been willing to engage government to government and the TPF was the best forum.”
He said the US companies had some special IPR issues with India and some of them had apprehensions that India would issue compulsory licencing for some of the patented drugs.
The Commerce Secretary addressed the media after the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has decided to conduct out of cycle review of India’s intellectual property regime (IPR), postponing the expected downgrade which could have resulted in trade sanctions.
This was indicated in USTR’s annual “Special 301” Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of US trading partners’ protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) released yesterday.
“India remains on the Priority Watch List in 2014. In making this determination, the United States recognizes not only the concerns listed below, but also the critical role that meaningful, constructive, and effective engagement between India and the United States should play in resolving these concerns,” the report said.
“Serious difficulties in attaining constructive engagement on issues of concern to U.S. and other stakeholders have contributed to India’s challenging environment for IPR protection and enforcement. In the coming months, the United States will redouble its efforts to seek opportunities for meaningful, sustained, and effective engagement on IP-related matters with the new government, including at senior levels and through technical exchanges, that will both improve IP protection and enforcement in India, and support India’s efforts to achieve a “Decade of Innovation” and advance its legitimate public policy goals,” it said.
These opportunities include strengthening IP-related discussions between U.S. and Indian government officials; facilitating regular exchanges among IP-intensive industries and both governments; initiating cooperative efforts to combat piracy; and working with the Government of India to encourage the private sector to establish an IP-related task force under the U.S.-India CEO Forum.
To further encourage progress on IPR issues of concern, USTR will publish a Federal Register notice and initiate an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) of India in the fall of 2014, commencing an assessment of the progress in that engagement, it said.
While the report indicated some progress made by India in - improving its weak IPR legal framework and enforcement system in 2013; digitization of cable networks to help efforts to combat signal theft by cable operators; implementing the Madrid Protocol; enacting rules to implement amendments to its Copyright Act; it said that IP protection and enforcement challenges are growing, and there are serious questions regarding the future of the innovation climate in India across multiple sectors and disciplines.
The “Special 301” Report is an annual review of the global state of IPR protection and enforcement.
USTR reviewed 82 trading partners for this year’s Special 301 Report, and placed 37 of them on the Priority Watch List or Watch List.
In this year’s report, trading partners on the Priority Watch List present the most significant concerns regarding insufficient IPR protection or enforcement, or otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection. Ten countries — Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, and Venezuela — are on the Priority Watch List. These countries will be the subject of particularly intense bilateral engagement during the coming year.
Twenty-seven trading partners are on the Watch List, also meriting bilateral attention to address underlying IPR problems: Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
USTR also announced that it will launch several Out-of-Cycle Reviews to enhance engagement with trading partners and encourage progress on IPR issues of concern. USTR will conduct OCRs of Priority Watch List country India and Watch List countries Kuwait and Paraguay. (KNN/ES)
Addressing the media, Kher said while the exact dates have not been fixed, the TPF meeting is likely to take place sometime in June or early July.
Kher told Deputy US Trade Representative, Wendy Cutler on telephone, “India had always been willing to engage government to government and the TPF was the best forum.”
He said the US companies had some special IPR issues with India and some of them had apprehensions that India would issue compulsory licencing for some of the patented drugs.
The Commerce Secretary addressed the media after the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has decided to conduct out of cycle review of India’s intellectual property regime (IPR), postponing the expected downgrade which could have resulted in trade sanctions.
This was indicated in USTR’s annual “Special 301” Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of US trading partners’ protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) released yesterday.
“India remains on the Priority Watch List in 2014. In making this determination, the United States recognizes not only the concerns listed below, but also the critical role that meaningful, constructive, and effective engagement between India and the United States should play in resolving these concerns,” the report said.
“Serious difficulties in attaining constructive engagement on issues of concern to U.S. and other stakeholders have contributed to India’s challenging environment for IPR protection and enforcement. In the coming months, the United States will redouble its efforts to seek opportunities for meaningful, sustained, and effective engagement on IP-related matters with the new government, including at senior levels and through technical exchanges, that will both improve IP protection and enforcement in India, and support India’s efforts to achieve a “Decade of Innovation” and advance its legitimate public policy goals,” it said.
These opportunities include strengthening IP-related discussions between U.S. and Indian government officials; facilitating regular exchanges among IP-intensive industries and both governments; initiating cooperative efforts to combat piracy; and working with the Government of India to encourage the private sector to establish an IP-related task force under the U.S.-India CEO Forum.
To further encourage progress on IPR issues of concern, USTR will publish a Federal Register notice and initiate an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) of India in the fall of 2014, commencing an assessment of the progress in that engagement, it said.
While the report indicated some progress made by India in - improving its weak IPR legal framework and enforcement system in 2013; digitization of cable networks to help efforts to combat signal theft by cable operators; implementing the Madrid Protocol; enacting rules to implement amendments to its Copyright Act; it said that IP protection and enforcement challenges are growing, and there are serious questions regarding the future of the innovation climate in India across multiple sectors and disciplines.
The “Special 301” Report is an annual review of the global state of IPR protection and enforcement.
USTR reviewed 82 trading partners for this year’s Special 301 Report, and placed 37 of them on the Priority Watch List or Watch List.
In this year’s report, trading partners on the Priority Watch List present the most significant concerns regarding insufficient IPR protection or enforcement, or otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection. Ten countries — Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, and Venezuela — are on the Priority Watch List. These countries will be the subject of particularly intense bilateral engagement during the coming year.
Twenty-seven trading partners are on the Watch List, also meriting bilateral attention to address underlying IPR problems: Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
USTR also announced that it will launch several Out-of-Cycle Reviews to enhance engagement with trading partners and encourage progress on IPR issues of concern. USTR will conduct OCRs of Priority Watch List country India and Watch List countries Kuwait and Paraguay. (KNN/ES)
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