Govt to formulate policy on intellectual property rights: Commerce Minister

In order to bring in more clarity in the existing laws and give more protection to the Indian industry, Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that the government will come out with a policy on intellectual property rights (IPR) in next six months and set up a think tank on IPR to strengthen the country's patent regime and encourage innovation. Till now, there is no IPR policy in the country and the developed nations such as the US and European countries raised concerns on certain provisions of the Indian Patent Act leading to the rejection of patents filed by multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Commerce Minister has asserted that the IPR policy will help in dealing with issues being raised by developed nations and protect interest of India on IPR related matters. The policy will also help modernise intellectual property administration and offices, commercialisation of IP, collaboration between different departments including science and technology, encourage innovation and enhance domestic filing of patents.

Regarding the set up of think tank on IPR, Nirmala Sitharaman stressed that a think tank on IPR will be formulated soon, which will enable the Commerce Ministry to handle the IPR issues more firmly. The think tank will have about 15-20 members on the IPR including professors, end-users and legal experts who will constantly keep the ministry informed about developments on international IPR issues and concerns.