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Strengthening India's Intellectual Property Rights Regime: Legal Safeguards for Innovation and Creativity
- THE GEOSTRATA
- May 31
- 7 min read
IPR, or Intellectual Property Rights, are considered the means by which innovation and economic growth can take place while protecting innovative ideas. To enhance the IPR process in India, a National IPR Policy was launched in 2016, with the main purpose of easing the pressure of protection and commercialisation.
Illustration by The Geostrata
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, through the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM), administers the policy and encourages innovation through Make in India and Start-Up India, particularly with entrepreneurship.
The end goal is to ultimately build toward the vision of a 'Creative India, Innovative India' that uses the world's best to capture the enormous reservoir of knowledge India has in terms of traditional knowledge. India's IPR regime is indeed being tested, but at its most difficult.
Associating with this is a discussion on the various categories of intellectual properties, India's current state of IPR, some serious issues with IPR in India, and a comparative context of the nation with regards to the U.S., Europe and Japan. The article says that if we learn a lesson from these nations, show stronger protection of geographical indications, traditional art and tribal art, with recommendations to bolster India's IPR system so that it becomes competitive in the world.
TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Intellectual property (IP) refers to a collection of rights which protect intellectual creations and inventions that stimulate both creation and economic growth.
Although industrial designs protect the appearance of products (including colouring, shapes and ornaments), trademarks rely on a special identifying mark or word to identify products or services of a business. Geographical indications (GIs) protect the name, reputation, authenticity and quality of a product when placed in a specific region.
Trade secrets protect businesses from being able to access proprietary information. A robust intellectual property environment will help facilitate investment, technological innovation and cultural heritage. Overarching enforcement and knowledge will be necessary to position oneself to take advantage of the protection and benefits afforded by intellectual property within the rapidly evolving global environment.
THE CURRENT SITUATION OF INDIA'S IPR FRAMEWORK
The WIPO World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) 2024 report states that India has progressed quite a lot in the field of intellectual property rights (IPR).
This displays the increasing spending by India on R&D from the patenting levels. The ratio of GDP to patents moved from 144 in 2013 to 381 in 2023 and therefore dampened economic benefits potentially coming from patented results. This suggests patents are indeed being used in economic activity that completely capitalises on IP.
India continues to grapple with a lack of enforcement, court backlog, piracy, and infringement as mechanisms for monetising IP. In order to put India in tune with international practices, the nation must facilitate speed in granting intellectual property, enhance court preparedness to enforce intellectual property rights, and establish a separate court setup for patents and trademarks.
The implementation of strong anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting legislation, like police and judicial training for better proponents of intellectual property rights, must be done.
Government schemes such as SPRIHA and NIPAM (National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission) are enlightening the masses, and the Atal Innovation Mission has benefited incubators, which have generated 3500 entrepreneurs and created 32,000 jobs. Technology Innovation Support Centres (TISC) will enable the commercialisation of cutting-edge technologies, and MSMES and startups will be facilitated by IPR.
India is being transformed into a next-generation platform for global innovation through its new IPR brand, but if India is to achieve economic return and global competitiveness, it must strengthen its practices of enforcement, education and commercialisation.
MAJOR CHALLENGES WITHIN INDIA'S IPR SYSTEM
There are numerous problems that are impacting India's intellectual property (IP) system that are preventing investment and innovation. There are a number of issues with piracy and counterfeiting in the fashion, drug, and tech sectors that contribute to issues with the business sector and the general consumer market. Enhanced enforcement and public awareness efforts would assist in better informing the consumer community.
Moreover, litigation is costly and time-consuming, even to the extent of denying entrepreneurs their right to assert their rights. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) must be capable of producing quick solutions to litigation. Other barriers to enforcement and ultimately acquiring control of IP are the absence of IP-specific tribunals and inconsistency in agencies.
Gains in efficiency will accrue from the establishment of IP expert courts and strengthening of enforcement organisations. Bureaucratic procrastination affects registrations of patents and trademarks, but digital innovation will further streamline the solutions.
Only limited access exists to IP specialists for small- and medium-scale enterprises in rural India; thus, additional training and support as legal consulting services would be valuable. India will be able to create an improved IPR structure for protection of inventions through a new IP law framework, superior enforcement infrastructure, and improved awareness among people.
A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
There are many hindrances to investing and innovating in India's intellectual property (IP) realm. There are many counterfeit and piracy challenges in the fashion, pharma, and technology areas that are causing problems in the consumer market, and this is troubling the business community.
However, as enforcement becomes more thorough and public awareness campaigns grow, perhaps there will be reasonable consumer society. Furthermore, pursuing legal remedies is costly and very time-consuming, which disincentivizes entrepreneurs to pursue their rightful protections and remedies. Alternative Dispute Resolution will hopefully lessen the length of the litigation process.
One of Japan's many advantages is the speed and punctuality of the patent examination processes at the USPTO, which is pushing technology into the market. Both the USPTO and EPO offer expedited processes with shorter wait times, while Japan also prefers quicker allowance and examination processes. Despite modern legislation in Japan, patent-granting remains bureaucratic. The increase in residential filings, while suggesting greater innovation and creativity, does run the risk of commercialisation of that hosted at a lower level of quality.
To remain competitive in the industrialised world, India must rationalise the patent regime, fund a quicker statutory review, and improve on enforcement channels. While India has made fantastic progress, further reforms and a more robust patent enforcement system will be necessary if India's patent filings are to cut the gap with industrialised countries.
Since 2023, India's patent filings have increased by 15.7%, more than any of the other top 20 economies, as well as achieving five years of double-digit growth. However, China led the way in the total number of patents with a combined total of 1.64 million filings, followed by the United States, and Japan at the respective totals of 518,364 and 414,413.
The US and Japan also saw modest growth in patent filing at 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively due to strong infrastructures to be able to process filings. Asia accounted for a whopping 68.7% of total filings, and 91.1% of that are attributed to China, Japan, and South Korea, with India at the 4th position.
Computer technology accounted for 12.4% of global world filing activity, the largest contribution, which demonstrates the value of the innovations. India filed 3.2 million trademark filings, similar to the US, but had poor enforcement.
To match the superior IP regimes and convert the increasing filings into a more solid quality intellectual property regime, India has to offer higher quality patents, low pendency and quality enforcement as still to fight for.
PROMOTING GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS, TRIBAL ART AND FOLK TRADITIONS
India is well-positioned to market its domestic culture, indigenous products, tribal art, and Geographical Indications (GIs) backed by a robust intellectual property regime. Globally in 2023, 58,600 GIs were registered, with China registering 9,785 and Germany registering 7,586.
India is in a good position, as a nation rich in culture and agriculture, to protect its GIs and build a global brand around its products. India could lead to increased registration of GIs for its handicrafts, foodstuffs, and traditional clothing. Agri-foodstuffs (44.8%) and alcoholic beverages (48.1%) have most of the GIs.
A few products which involve a great amount of historical and cultural significance are Warli painting, Madhubani painting, Darjeeling tea, Mysore silk and Pashmina wool.
Proclamation of the rights of the traditional producers of tribal and traditional art will offer greater protection to them as well as intellectual benefit and regard for the community, all of which are due long over. By strengthening education and outreach on enforcement of GI, India would be well placed to evaluate their worth on the global platform of intellectual property. The expansion of GI awareness and encouragement of local business development positions India in a better position to sustain its culture and establish economic viability for tribal and rural communities.
CONCLUSION
India has come a long way in establishing a robust intellectual property rights regime. Nevertheless, issues of non-commercialisation, inefficiency of bureaucracy, and poor enforcement continue. India needs to strengthen intellectual property law for emerging firms, simplify the patent application process and enforcement and resort to the legal system to seek recourse in order to be a success in the international economy.
Ideologically, it is essential for India's economic development that there exists a balanced setup which safeguards innovation as well as ensures fair access to it. It not only encourages investment as well as creativity but also induces inclusive growth. Strategically, it makes India capable of a shift from the status of an intellectual property consumer to that of an intellectual property creator, thereby consolidating India's position as a world leader in the knowledge economy.
BY VAIBHAV PANDEY
TEAM GEOSTRATA