NEW DELHI: The much-awaited National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy will be moved to the Cabinet soon after incorporating inputs from various departments, commerce. The IPR think tank headed by Justice Prabha Sridevan, set up by the government last year, formulated a draft patents policy earlier this year. The think tank was set up to highlight anomalies in current IPR legislation and advise on possible solutions.
“After adopting a transparent process of drafting this policy, it (has been) with the government for a month or two. It has gone to all the ministries, which is a necessary process, for inter-ministerial consultation. We shall take inputs from various ministries and post that, (we) will give the final version to the Cabinet,”.The National IPR policy seeks to encourage innovation by providing tax incentives and modifying intellectual property rights. The new policy aims to bring clarity to existing laws and make changes wherever required to safeguard the interests of Indian industry and patent holders worldwide.
India has been under pressure from the US and other developed countries on the IPR regime. The minister reiterated India’s stand that its IPR laws were compliant with international rules. “Indian patent rights, GIs (geographical indicators), copyrights… Everything we are doing, the Acts which we have in front of us are TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) compliant.
