Context: A major revamp of India’s Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) ecosystem is underway. Efforts are being made on all fronts — making the application process smoother, digital infrastructure upgradation, expansion of manpower etc.
Relevance of the Topic: Mains: Intellectual Property Rights in India
What are Intellectual Property Rights?
- Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.
- There are various types of IPRs, for E.g., Patent, Trademark, Copyright, Industrial design etc.
- India is a signatory to Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which sets global standards for intellectual property protection.
- India has formulated the National IPR Policy 2016 to strengthen the Indian IPR ecosystem including- speeding up registration proceedings and reinforcing enforcement mechanisms and processes for all IP rights.
Key developments in India’s IPR ecosystem
- Expansion in Patent filings:
- The number of applications filed grew from 42,951 in 2013-14 to 92,168 in 2023-24, with 103,057 patents granted.
- Resident Indians now contribute more to patent filings than multinational corporations. The share of patents filed by residents has more than doubled, from 25.5% in 2013-14 to 56% in 2023-24.
- Trademarks filings growth:
- India ranks fourth globally in trademarks filings, behind the US, China, and Russia. The number of trademarks filed has increased from 2 lakh in 2016-17 to 4.8 lakh in 2023-24.
- Despite the rise in filings, trademark registrations have plateaued, remaining between 2.5 lakh and 3 lakh annually since 2016-17.
- Global harmonisation efforts: India has signed the Riyadh Design Law Treaty in 2024, focusing on industrial design protection and aligning with global standards.
- Improved ranking in GII: The positive shifts in India’s IPR ecosystem is reflected in the improvement in the country’s rank in the Global Innovation Index (published by World Intellectual Property Organisation). India has moved up from 66th position in 2016 to 39th position (among 133 global economies) in 2024.
Issues in India’s IPR regime
- Outflow exceeds Inflow:
- India’s current IP ecosystem is weak compared to China and the US. According to data released by the International Monetary Fund, India paid USD 8.63 billion for the use of foreign IPs in 2021, compared to the USD 870 million received by India for its IPs.
- The number of patent grants is still far below 3,10,245 granted in the US in 2023 and 7,98,347 by China in 2022.
- Lengthy Patent Examination Process:
- Lengthy patent examination process in India leads to delays in obtaining patent protection.
- This may discourage innovation and investment, particularly for technology-driven industries where rapid development is essential.
- Huge Pendency:
- In India, as of March 2022, around 1.64 lakh applications were pending at the controller level.
- Further, the average time taken for disposing of a patent application in China and the US is 20- 21 months, almost one-third of the time taken in India.
- Manpower limitations:
- As of 2023-24, India’s patent office had 956 personnel, compared to China’s 13,704 and the US’s 8,132. This shortage of staff has led to delays in processing applications.
- Complex Legal Proceedings:
- Litigation and disputes over patent validity and infringement can take years to resolve, adding to the uncertainty and costs for both patent holders and challengers.
- The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) was abolished in 2016, transferring jurisdiction to adjudicate appeals over patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other Intellectual Property Rights matters to the already overburdened High Courts.
- Weak enforcement of IPR laws:
- E.g., Despite having a Copyright Act, there is widespread piracy of copyrighted materials.
- As a result, India remains on the United States Trade Representative's ‘Priority Watch List’ for alleged violations of IPR.
- Lack of Data Exclusivity law in India risks unfair commercial use of test data submitted to the government, during application for market approval of pharma or agro-chemical products.
- Inadequate private sector investment in R&D:
- India’s R&D spending is 0.65% of GDP, significantly lower than the US (3.6%), China (2.4%), and Singapore (2.2%).
- Private sector R&D spending is only 36% of the total R&D expenditure, in contrast to higher contributions by private institutions in the US & Japan (79% of total R&D expenditure), China (77%), and Singapore (63%).
- Lack of Industry-acaemia collaboration and inadequate investment in Innovation is one of the reasons for limited commercialisation of patents.
Measures for strengthening India’s IPR ecosystem:
- Fixed timelines for various steps and reduced compliance burden for the applicants.
- Capacity building of IP enforcement agencies including strengthening of IPR cells in Police. Establishment of a Central Coordination Body on IP Enforcement for enforcement of IP laws to check IP crimes.
- Establishment of an exclusive apex level institution for IPR development.
- Specific legislation to curb counterfeiting and piracy and dedicated benches in High Courts for IP matters.
- ‘Patent Pending’ status for innovations filed with patent offices that have not been conferred patent.
- IP audit for assessing IPR potential in specific sectors to formulate targeted IPR programs.
- Holistic review of National IPR Policy in view of emerging trends of innovation, research and challenges.
- IP backed financing and promotion of commercialisation of IPRs.
- Promoting an environment of innovations in academic institutions, increased spending and Industry-Academia partnership for R&D.
Also Read: Riyadh Design Law Treaty