This article is written by Pruthvi Ramkanta Hegde. This article emphasises the concept, objective, and importance of the National IPR Policy. The article further covers the need for the protection of intellectual property rights in India and various challenges in implementing the policy.

It has been published by Rachit Garg.

Introduction

The National Intellectual Property Right Policy, commonly called the National IPR Policy, is a well established legal Policy that assists in developing and controlling intellectual property rights within India. Under the Ministry of Commerce, in 2016, the Policy was adopted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. The Policy aims to protect and safeguard the interests of intellectual property rights holders. Intellectual Property is an intangible asset that includes patents, copyrights, trademarks and industrial designs. The protection of these rights helps to foster the creativity, uniqueness and economic development of the nation. 

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What is National IPR Policy

The Policy is a legal document that is established by the Indian Government to control and manage the different types of intellectual property in India. Policy is like a rule book that guides how India can leverage ideas, innovation and creations of the rights associated with intellectual property. The Policy also allows us to learn from what other countries are doing well and adjust those ideas to fit India. It is like trying to use the best ideas from around the world to make sure India’s system for intellectual property is the best it can be.

Purpose of National IPR Policy

The Policy aims to establish a suitable atmosphere in which people can come together to form new innovations, ideas, and artistic works. This will help to increase the economic and cultural development of the nation. One of the main purposes of the Policy is to provide inventors and creators with the most efficient legal protections for their rights associated with particular intellectual properties. The Policy also considered some aspects to provide better access to things like food, healthcare, and protection of the environment. This is really needed for the well-being of the people.

Objectives and implementation of National IPR Policy

Some of the major objectives of the National Intellectual Property Policy are as follows:

  • The most important objective is to make sure that individuals from all backgrounds know about the principles and purpose of intellectual property rights. The rights related to types of intellectual property include trademarks, patents, copyrights and industrial design. In order to reach this purpose, many steps have been taken by the government and some of the programs have also been arranged by the Government. 
  • The Policy aims to support innovation and creativity in order to establish more intellectual property. In this regard, a significant role has been taken by the government in order to safeguard the rights to intellectual property.  Research and development are needed for the development of intellectual property, and the same is upheld by the Policy. The Policy also aims to allocate these resources and aims to provide funds for research and development activities.  
  • In order to protect Indian traditional knowledge, the Policy aims to widen the scope of the  Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). 
  • The Government collaborates with various stakeholders to achieve the objective of the Policy to protect the intellectual property rights of the owners.
  • Modernising and updating the administration of intellectual property rights is another objective of the Policy. In this regard, the Government will invest in intellectual property in order to improve existing positions, including by adopting updated technology, infrastructure, and development in the administrative process.
  • Through the way of commercialisation Policy aims to take intellectual property rights, including patents and copyrights, in order to convert them into valuable assets. By doing marketing and support, international projections, geographical indications, and intellectual property rights can be commercialised. 
  • Creating awareness about intellectual property is the main objective of the Policy. This can be achieved by focusing on the right audience and also showcasing its value to different buyers, licensees, or investors.
  • Through specialised courts and alternative methods, the rights related to intellectual property rules can be improved by way of reinforcement. It is one of the main objectives of the Policy. Strong enforcement of intellectual property rights, ensures that right holders can protect their own works.
  • The Policy aims to build expertise and potential capacity in the field of intellectual property by encouraging the improvement of policies. Well constructed intellectual property rights will help establish effective management. It is essential to create a large number of experts in law, strategy and administration of intellectual property rights.

Essentials 

After consultation with nearly 300 organisations and individuals, including different departments and 31 government departments have formed the Policy.  The Document that assists in the acquisition of all types of intellectual property within the Indian intellectual property ecosystem. India’s commitment to international agreements like the Doha Development Agenda and the Trade Related Aspects of the Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement  is reaffirmed by the Policy. The Policy aims to promote Indian intellectual property frameworks by adopting them into the country’s unique context. The Policy is revised every five years within a committed under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary responsible for its regular appraisal. The significant factor of the Policy is to create awareness about the rights and interest of the intellectual property rights to connected persons.

Features of National IPR Policy

  • The Policy intends to support creativity, entrepreneurship, and transform the intellectual property into valuable assets, thereby protecting the public interest.
  • The Policy allows the domestic IPR filings, including the entire process from idea generation to commercialisation and globalisation.
  • The Policy covers tax benefits, which will help in the aspects of research and development of Indian intellectual properties.
  • In accordance with the international treaties and TRIPS, the Policy provides legislative flexibility to the government of India. It covers the utilising the provisions related to compulsory licensing to ensure the availability of essential life saving drugs at reasonable prices and as per the Section 3(d) of the Patent Act 1970. 

Implementation of National IPR Policy

In order to implement the objective of the Policy, the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), the Cell for Intellectual Property Rights Promotion and Management (CIPAM) and the Government of India have taken the following steps to achieve these objects, which include:

  • CGPDTM collaborates with the Cell for Intellectual Property Rights Promotion and Management (CIPAM) and various industry associations to organise over 100 intellectual property rights awareness programmes each year. These programmes are aimed at educating students in schools, colleges, and universities about intellectual property rights. Additionally, the government is working on incorporating intellectual property rights related topics into schools and college curricula. The government aims to extend intellectual property rights related topics beyond educational institutions by arranging some online courses for different learners. Furthermore, intellectual property rights education is integrated into the curriculum of high schools and colleges to ensure that younger generations are well-versed in this important area. In this regard, the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute for IP Management (RGNIIPM) plays an essential role in conducting public training programmes and intellectual property awareness programmes for various stakeholders. They conduct around 100 such programmes annually. These initiatives help to spread awareness and knowledge about intellectual property and its significance.
  • In order to encourage the generation of intellectual property rights, the CGPDTM office has taken several steps:
  1. CGPDTM made it easier to apply for and get intellectual property rights like patents and trademarks by allowing online applications and payments. This system also provides real time application status updates.
  2. To boost innovation, they have reduced fees for startups and small businesses when they apply for patents and trademarks.
  3. In order to provide financial support for IP generation, they have launched a programme called SIPP to financially assist startups in protecting their IP.
  4. Introduced faster processors for certain categories of applicants, ensuring they receive their patents within a year of applying.
  5. Made it quicker to register trademarks. 
  6. Setup Technology and Innovation Support Centres (TISC) and IP Facilitation Centres in universities to help people apply for IP rights.
  • In order to commercialise the IPR, India introduced the Patent Box concept as a part of the Finance Act in 2016. It is a special tax regime designated to benefit income generated from patents.
  • The Cell for Intellectual Property Rights Promotion and Management (CIPAM) is responsible for raising awareness about the enforcement and adjudication of intellectual property rights in India, with a specific focus on  preventing the counterfeiting of intellectual property rights. They conduct programmes to enhance the skills of state enforcement officials in intellectual property rights enforcement, often collaborating with organisations like the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). 
  • The Office of CGPDTM and RGNIIPM undertake intellectual property training and awareness activities to strengthen and expand human resources and capacities for skill building in intellectual property rights. RGNIIPM, Nagpur, has been strengthened and empowered to conduct training for intellectual property rights administrators and managers in industry, business academics and research and development institutions. For IP professionals, trainers, inventors, industry sectors and others, the RGNIIPM has been associated with WIPO for jointly conducting Summer School customised programmes in intellectual property and providing legal training for examiners.
  • The Office of CGPDTM supports intellectual property rights outreach activities in the country by providing intellectual property organisation officers as resource persons for conducting awareness and public training programmes.

Advantages of National IPR Policy

The National IPR Policy plays a significant role in regulating and protecting the intellectual property in India. The Policy addresses a different conducive environment for encouraging and developing IPR in India. Some of the  major advantages of the Policy are as follows:

  • The Policy provides a standard framework for protecting the rights and interests of investors, creators, and inventors, thus encouraging them to invest time and resources in developing the creative works, inventions and ideas.
  • The Policy helps to promote innovation, which in turn, stimulates the creation of new jobs and new industries.
  • The Policy aligns India’s intellectual property with the international IPR regime, thereby fostering international cooperation, attracting foreign direct investment, and enhances India’s standing in the global business community.
  • The Policy aims to improve the ease of doing business on the World Bank and demonstrate a favourable business environment, encouraging domestic and foreign investors to engage in economic activities in India. 
  • The robust IPR system can attract foreign investment by assuring investors that their intellectual property will be protected and secured, thus, creating a favourable business environment.
  • The Policy creates competitiveness in business by creating brand value in the market, protecting products or services and differentiating those products in the market.
  • The Policy provides a standard for maintaining quality products and curbs the sale of counterfeit goods.
  • The Policy helps to safeguard the rights of artists, writers and creators, thus, encouraging the production of artistic and cultural works and thereby giving recognition to those artists. The Policy also helps to prevent the piracy of movies and music, thereby, protecting the interests of the creators and contributing to the development of the entertainment industry. This will ensure that artists and content creators are fairly rewarded for their innovation and new creations.
  • The Policy protects pharmaceutical innovation; this would help to balance the interests of public health and innovators.
  • The Policy promotes the investments by providing a stable and encouraging more effective and responsive IPR administration.
  • The Policy contributes to societal well being by developing access to healthcare, ensuring food security and promoting environmental protection.
  • The Policy helps to create a consistent, open and service oriented IPR administration that encourages creativity and innovation across industries. This creates an environment where individuals and businesses feel supported in their intellectual endeavours.
  • The Policy streamlines the application process, decreases the backlog of IPR applications, and facilitates quicker protection for innovation.
  • The consolidation of IPRs under one administrative umbrella ensures their commercial significance through improved administrative convergence. This streamlined approach helps to ensure that the management, enforcement, and protection of various types of intellectual property, including patents, copyrights and trademarks are coordinated efficiently. 

Drawbacks of National IPR Policy

Though the Policy has provided significant benefits for the IPR in India, Policy has some drawbacks. In that regard, some of the major drawbacks of the Policy are as follows:

  • The lack of evidence that supports the effectiveness of modern utility models and trade secret laws in promoting informal innovations is one of the demerits, casting doubt on the Policy’s overall impact. 
  • The protection of copyright with reference to state legislation suggests the Policy that leans towards the interests of intellectual property holders over social benefits, raising concerns about the balance within the ambit of the Policy.
  • The Policy has been criticised with regard to lack of specificity, expressing doubts about its effectiveness in fostering innovation in the country.
  • There is a misunderstanding between Policy and innovation that Policy seemingly assumes that more intellectual property translates to more innovation without recognising that intellectual property means to an end, but not an end in itself. 
  • The Policy failed to address the important issue of traditional knowledge and innovations derived from it, and left a significant gap between the protection and recognition of indigenous practises.
  • The inclusion of the Doha Declaration in the IPR Policy raises apprehension about the potential attempts to exploit loopholes in the TRIPS to favour pharmaceutical companies. This will have negative consequences for both the generic industry as well as the general population.
  • Improper funding and programs to ensure access to medicine for all, changes in the legislative framework may adversely affect not only generic industry but also the broader population. In this regard, the Government needs to address these issues to regulate and prevent negative consequences.

Necessity of protecting IPRs in India

India’s intellectual property is improving day by day. It is necessary to protect the rights associated with intellectual property In India. Some of the major reasons for the protection of intellectual property rights are as follows:

  • In India patent and trademark registration has been increasing for many years. It is witnessed from seven years of the country’s growing interest towards intellectual property is reflected in the innovation and creative approach. It is evident that in India from the past seven years grant of patents has been increasing. In 2013-14, 4227 patents were granted, a number increased to 28,391 in 2020-21 which is stated by the report of the Press Information Bureau. In the same manner, trademark registration also grew and increased by 14.2 lakh in 2020-21. Thus there is a great need for the protection of intellectual property rights in India.
  • Intellectual property is a source of financial earnings. The properties such as trademark, copyrights and industrial designs that will generate an income source for the artists, creators and inventors from their creative work. These earnings inspire the society to take part in such creativity. Thus it allows for financial development in the country. As per the WIPO reports has witnessed the increase in India’s GDP rate. In 2011, 15,914 patents were filed, from that GDP rate of India has raised to $551.13 billion.  
  • The role of intellectual property is very significant. It covers almost every sector of the Indian economy from agriculture to traditional knowledge and from information technology to pharmaceuticals. 
  • The well established intellectual property protection helps to increase foreign direct investment as it attracts other investors to seek assurance as they may be confident about the safety and security of their intellectual property while investing in Indian business entities.
  • In order to take part in global trade, compliance with laws and regulation related to intellectual property is needed. One can be safe from trade barriers and conflicts if a country has established standards and regulation as a compliance purpose. In this regard, protection of intellectual property rights is needed in India to take part in international trade agreements.
  • The pharmaceuticals industries are also associated with the rights of intellectual property with regards to company name and other factors. The safety of the medicines or drugs and other related products in the pharmaceuticals is needed for the safety of the customers. The well established rules can prevent the counterfeit and substandard goods from customers, as it restricts the sale and purchase in the market. Particularly, patent and other associated IPR protection is needed to regulate such product processing and creation. 
  • If the intellectual property rights are protected it allows the transfer of different technology from the foreign companies to Indian industry on the basis of the partnerships and different agreements. 
  • The protection of intellectual property rights also helps to protect the interest of the creators and invented individuals as it keeps the high quality and standards for their products and services.

Difficulties in implementing National IPR Policy 

There are some difficulties that exist while implementing the principles of the Policy in India. The major reasons are: 

  • In India, there is a lot of scarcity of knowledge and awareness of intellectual property. Whether they are students, creators or small businesses, they may not possess much knowledge with regards to intellectual property rights. 
  • Due to lack of trained personnel and definite legal structure, it is difficult to enforce intellectual property laws in order to prevent infringement and to prosecute those who infringe such rights. 
  • In order to determine whether intellectual property is respected or used ethically, this is one of the serious issues. Which may be related to plagiarism, unethical usage, piracy and counterfeiting. It’s essential to promote ethical practises to protect the rights of creators and innovators. 
  • In order to implement the Policy, it takes coordination and cooperation between various stakeholders, which may be governmental bodies or educational institutions. Maintaining coordination and managing smoothly is one of the great challenges. 

Role of the state in National IPR Policy

The role played by the states in securing intellectual property rights in India is a very appreciable thing. With the assistance of numerous institutions, the state has been actively involved in promoting and recognising intellectual property rights, thereby supporting innovation and the new creation of India’s intellectual property. In this regard, the role of the National Innovation Council (NInC) is very important. It has allowed the establishment of the State Innovation Council (SInce) at the respective state level. Today, 31 State Innovation Councils are established in India. It’s worth noting that some states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, have yet to establish their respective State Innovation Councils. Some of the states have already created a convincing atmosphere for the improvement of intellectual property. Gujarat, for instance, has taken a pioneering role by launching the State Innovation Portal and establishing the centre on intellectual property rights under the umbrella of the Gujarat Council of Science and Technology (GUJCOST) at the Gujarat National Law University. Some of the states have established intellectual property cells in their police departments only. Which is laid down under the Economic Offence Wing. These initiatives encourage states to take active participation in improving the suitable ecosystem for the development and establishment of intellectual property. 

World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) approaches National IPR Policy

One of the significant organisations that help to shape and influence the National IPR Policy in India is the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). WIPO is one of the most specialised organisations in the United Nations that articulate each and every issue pertaining to intellectual property. The types of intellectual property, including trademarks, copyrights, patents and other established rights, are the subject matter often dealt with by WIPO. The suggestion given by the WIPO with regard to the establishment of the National IPR Policy is composed of three main parts, including the process, the baseline, the questionnaire and benchmarking indicators. Under the part process, there are eight steps of process that are suggested by the WIPO for the purpose of improving the Policy. This has embarked on a strong pillar in order to continue consultation and the collection of complex data. Out of the eight steps suggested by the WIPO, the initial step is framed as an assessment mission, which acts as a baseline for Policy creation. This covers the active participation of all the interested parties in such a process. The other part is called the Baseline Survey Questionnaire, which is suggested for the purpose of supplementing and auditing the intellectual property by providing a more established undertaking of the potentiality of the present intellectual property position within the country. Meanwhile, national consultations are intended to validate the collected data and audit it; that is why they reinforced it by drafting preliminary conclusions.

Conclusion

In India, intellectual property is considered one of the invaluable assets. The improvement of intellectual property in India is like a journey that is ongoing instead of a fixed, determined approach. The important role is to improve India’s existing and upcoming intellectual property. The Policy aims to foster innovation, creativity, uniqueness, recognition and protection of intellectual property in India. The Policy for economic growth in India aims to create a dynamic ecosystem and is also intended to make India globally a leader in the knowledge based economy. This has happened due to the collaborative efforts of all the stakeholders. The Policy has contributed a lot to increasing socio-economic and cultural improvement in India. The Policy acts as a potential changemaker in India and aims to make the future of India an economic powerhouse. Meanwhile in order to execute the provisions of the Policy it is important to have coordinated efforts from each and every unit, that includes governmental bodies, industrial entities and society Thus, the Policy has a very strong and positive impact on India’s intellectual property, thereby protecting the interests of the property holders.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How does Policy find the right balance between intellectual property protection and public access to important goods and services?

The Policy balances promoting innovation while ensuring access to critical sectors like healthcare, food security and environmental protection. It allows for measures like compulsory licencing in healthcare to ensure affordability.

What is the tagline of the National IPR Policy?

‘Creative India, Innovative India’ is the tagline of the National IPR Policy. Thereby, the Policy aims to support entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation in intellectual property by restricting the production and sale of counterfeit goods.

What role does international collaboration play in the National IPR Policy?

The Policy encourages collaboration with organisations like the WIPO and World Trade Organisation (WTO) foreign universities. This collaboration helps to build India’s intellectual property capacity and ensures alignment with international standards. 

What steps are taken under the Policy to strengthen India’s IP workforce?

The Policy outlines measures such as empowering institutions to offer intellectual property education, introducing intellectual property courses, and creating institutional programmes to create awareness about intellectual property rights.

How will the National IPR Policy benefit economic growth in India?

By supporting innovation, protecting intellectual property, and fostering a culture of respect for intellectual property, the Policy is expected to stimulate entrepreneurship, create jobs, attract foreign direct investment, and drive economic growth.

Does the National IPR Policy regulate the issues with regards to data exclusivity?

The National IPR Policy may not expressly regulate the issues related to data exclusivity. However, exclusivity concerns typically involve protecting the data from unfair commercial usage, which is submitted to pharmaceutical or agrochemical products. 

How can individuals or entities benefit from the National IPR Policy?

The Policy aims to protect the interests of individuals or any business entity by establishing a standard legal framework, thereby, encouraging innovation and facilitating fair competition in the market. In this way, the Policy benefits the individual or business entities.

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