The article has been written by Ananaya Shee, a 2nd year student of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Bangalore.

ABSTRACT

We, being people of the legal field, have copyrights and patents popping up in our minds when we hear of intellectual property rights. To be fair, let me elaborate on that. IPR are divided into two main categories- (a)Copyrights and rights related to the same (b) Industrial property. Copyrights and the rights related to copyrights simply mean that the rights of various creators such as authors, singers, actors, you name it; all the artistic works which also include all music compositions, writings, etc. are protected. The rights stated are protected after namely fifty years of their death with the aim of giving it an encouragement and most importantly respecting and relishing the original work of the creators. The other category, i.e., industry property talks specifically about protecting the signs, can be also described as trademarks. For e.g., Samsung cannot change its logo from SAMSUNG to an icon of a half-eaten apple with a leaf. Other types of industry property deal with protection of innovation and technology. This is done with the aim of safeguarding the return on investment. This area covers safeguarding of inventions such as trade secrets, industrial designs, etc. which is protected by patents which is typically for an extent of 20 years (in the case of patents). 

A multilateral understanding may be an exchange assertion built up between three or more nations with the purposeful of decreasing boundaries to exchange, such as taxes, endowments, and embargoes, that restrain a nation’s capacity to import or trade products. They are considered the finest strategy of empowering a really worldwide economy that opens markets to little and huge nations on an even-handed basis. In common, exchange assertions between countries are either respective, including as it were two countries, or multilateral. By their exceptionally nature, requiring concessions by a few nations that have customarily utilized exchange obstructions to secure certain businesses or residential products, multilateral assertions are much more troublesome to arrange than reciprocal assertions.

CONTENT

Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

• The TRIPS Agreement which came into effect on 1st January, 1995 is till date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on Intellectual Property. 
• The areas of Intellectual Property that the agreement covers are Copyrights and related rights (which includes rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations); Trademarks; Industrial Designs; Patents, including the protection of new Varieties of Plants; Geographical Indications and undisclosed information including Trade Secrets.
• The TRIPs Agreement is a minimum standards agreement, which enables members to provide a more extensive protection of Intellectual Property if they wish to do so.
• Members are free to determine the appropriate methods of implementing the provisions of the Agreement within the ambit of their own legal system and practices.

2. India and Multilateral Treaties

• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works The Convention was adopted on September 9, 1886 at Berne and entered into force on December 4, 1887. This Convention relates to Copyrights and rests on three basic principles namely, national treatment, automatic protection and independence of protection. The Convention also contains a series of provisions determining the minimum protection to be granted and came into force in India on April 1, 1928.
• Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) The Convention was adopted on July 14, 1967 at Stockholm and entered into force on April 26, 1970. The Organization under this Convention was organized with two main objectives – to promote the protection of Intellectual Property worldwide and to ensure administrative cooperation among the Intellectual Property Unions established by the treaties that WIPO administers. India became a member on May 1, 1975.
• Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) The Agreement was adopted on April 15, 1994 at Marrakesh and entered into force on January 1, 1995. The World Trade Organization was established to provide the common institutional framework for the conduct of trade relations among its members in matters related to the agreements and associated legal instruments. India became a member to this agreement on January 1, 1995. 
• World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) The Agreement was adopted on April 15, 1994 at Marrakesh and entered into force on January 1, 1995. The agreement popularly known as TRIPS covers various types of intellectual property and provides guidelines for minimum standards for protection, procedures and remedies for enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights and for issues relating to dispute settlement. India became a member on January 1, 1995. 
• Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property The convention was adopted on March 20, 1883 at Paris and entered into force on July 7, 1884. The Convention provides basic guidelines for the protection of industrial property relating to patents, industrial designs, trademarks, trade names, service marks, trade names, indications of source or appellations of origin, and the repression of unfair competition) and has substantive provisions for national treatment, right of priority and common rules. This treaty came into force in India from December 7, 1998. 
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) The Treaty was adopted on June 19, 1970 at Washington D.C. and entered into force on January 24, 1978. The Treaty facilitates patent protection for an invention simultaneously in its member countries. The same came into force in India from December 7, 1998.
• Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure. The Treaty was adopted on April 28, 1977 at Budapest and entered into force on August 19, 1980. The Treaty provides guidelines for the deposition of micro-organisms with any “international depositary authority” for the purpose of patent procedures. This treaty came into force in India from December 17, 2001. 
• Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure. The Treaty was adopted on April 28, 1977 at Budapest and entered into force on August 19, 1980. The Treaty provides guidelines for the deposition of micro-organisms with any “international depositary authority” for the purpose of patent procedures. This treaty came into force in India from December 17, 2001. y Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities.

The Marrakesh Treaty is a treaty on copyright adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 28 June 2013. The treaty allows for copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works for visually impaired persons. The treaty sets a norm for countries ratifying the treaty to have a domestic copyright exception covering these activities, and allowing for the import and export of such materials. India was the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty, which has come into force from September 30th 2016.

A strong intellectual property policy in the country is critical for its industrial and socioeconomic growth, scientific and technological domain expansion, ease of doing business, and attracting new investors. 

As the world’s largest democracy, India’s goals to protect public interest in the face of economic and technological expansion take centre stage. In a broad sense, the IPR regime addresses the generation, protection, management, and enforcement of IPR, including dispute resolution, antipiracy and anti-counterfeiting measures, using them as an asset for economic and financial transactions, and positioning India in the community of nations in terms of fair and competitive business, multilateral trade negotiations, and evolving global platforms for promoting international understanding to benefit all nations, particularly India.

One can view the IPR regime from the following perspectives: 

Economic Growth 

IP contributes to national GDP and generation of employment as supported by many global studies. 

Based on studies on the copyright industry from about 45 countries, the World Intellectual Property Organization found that it contributes approximately 2 – 10 percent to the GDP and 5.34 percent to national employment creation. (Ref: WIPO Guide on surveying the economic contribution of the copyright industries, 2015) An OECD study titled, ‘Policy Complements to the Strengthening of IPRs in Developing Countries, 2010’ reveals that (i) 1% increase in trademark protection increases FDI by 3.8%, (ii) 1% improvement in patent protection increases FDI by 2.8% and (iii) 1% improvement in copyright protection increases FDI by 6.8%. 

Ease of Doing Business 

Establishing an environment conducive to Ease of Doing Business both by domestic and foreign companies is essential for attracting investments in trade and commerce. India has improved its world ranking in this regard in the past few years. The role of IPR is undisputed in this aspect. The important elements would include ensuring fair competition, easier transaction of IPR, removing piracy and counterfeiting and quick resolution of disputes.

Dispute Resolution in IPR related Cases 

India has a strong, reliable, and fair legal system and courts have reinforced this fact in cases of IPR. Commercial courts were introduced some time back but at the state level, their functioning needs to be improved to check counterfeiting and piracy of goods. There is a need for establishing alternate dispute resolution (ADR) for IPR cases and mediation cells in courts to help small and medium enterprises including start-ups to resolve disputes quickly and economically. 

Protection of Rights of Creators 

Protection of IPR is the most important link in the value chain of the IPR regime in the country in addition to awareness on IPR across the sectors. There are several dimensions of this element, namely, 

1. Amending existing laws, which are fully compatible with TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights by WIPO member countries), 
2. Introducing new laws, if needed, 
3. Removing infirmities among IPR and other laws 
4. Developing an efficient and effective examination and prosecution system. 

Way Forward 

A strong IPR regime is considered important in meeting the challenges posed by Industry 4.0, the next era of industrial practices. Technology transfers from domestic and foreign industries and organizations will be enabled through such a regime for sustainable development. ‘Make in India’, ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ and similar initiatives of the Government would be strengthened and accelerated by a strong IPR regime in the country.

Developments Over the Last Five Years

India announced its first National IPR policy in 2016.  Today, the portfolios of Patents, Designs, Trademarks, Copyright, Geographical Indications, and Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design all fall under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).  Under DPIIT, the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management is tasked with implementing India’s National IPR Policy.  It spearheads the Indian government’s efforts to streamline IP processes, increase IP awareness, promote commercialization, and enhance enforcement.

Over the past five years, the Indian government has taken positive steps to strengthen its IPR regime, such as efforts to modernize its IP offices; increase manpower; use IT and technology in e-filing of applications; deliver certificates of grant and registration of patents and trademarks in a digital format; reduce the number of trademarks forms; use video conferencing for hearing of IP applications; create expedited examination procedures; and spread awareness on IP issues.

DPIIT, in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, launched an IPR enforcement toolkit to aid police with handling IP crimes, in particular counterfeiting and piracy.  The Maharashtra Cyber Digital Crime Unit was established in August 2017 as a public-private partnership to enable industry to work directly with state police to combat digital piracy.  The Unit serves as a potential model for digital enforcement that other Indian states can emulate and replicate.

The Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell has also taken steps to foster innovation and promote IP literacy and awareness in classrooms across the country.

Reference:

This article was originally written by ‘Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Ministry of Commerce and Industry’ published on https://spicyip.com/ website. The link for the same is herein https://spicyip.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IPR-Regime-in-India-An-Overview.pdf

 This article was originally written by ‘Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Ministry of Commerce and Industry’ published on https://spicyip.com/ website. The link for the same is herein https://spicyip.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IPR-Regime-in-India-An-Overview.pdf 

This article was originally written by Dr. Ramesh Datla, Chairman CII National Committee on IPR and Executive Chairman, ELICO Ltd published on https://www.ciiblog.in/website .The link for the same is herein https://www.ciiblog.in/strengthening-the-ipr-regime-in-india/ 

This article was originally written by Dr. Ramesh Datla, Chairman CII National Committee on IPR and Executive Chairman, ELICO Ltd published on https://www.ciiblog.in/website .The link for the same is herein https://www.ciiblog.in/strengthening-the-ipr-regime-in-india/