Sitharaman asks WIPO to set up an office in India

New Delhi, Aug 20 (KNN) Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked the Director General of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) that it would be in the interest of WIPO as also global IP regime to have an External Office of WIPO in India.

She informed that India has already submitted a formal proposal in this regard, and is ready to offer free of cost premises for opening of an External Office.

Sitharaman held meeting with Francis Gurry, DG, WIPO to discuss various multilateral internet treaties like WPPT and WCT in New Delhi.

It was discussed that the methodology of calculating GII also needs to be studied and changed, as appropriate. The parameters should be reflective of the needs and conditions existing in developing nations. DG, WIPO also suggested that GII also cover the impact of innovation.

WIPO and the Indian IP Office are co-operating with each other in training of various IP Examiners and other stakeholders. To this end, an International Training Course is being organized in RGNIIPM jointly with WIPO Academy in September, 2016. India has also requested WIPO to consider opening a Regional Training Academy in Nagpur. WIPO had proposed holding Global Digital Content Market Conference, 2017 in India, which has been accepted by India. Both parties agreed to have a high quality conference in May, 2017. (With PIB inputs)