Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

29-March-2011 17:52 IST

Anand Sharma Chairs Consultative Committee of Parliament on Challenges in IPR-International and Domestic

Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister of commerce & Industry, chaired a meeting of consultative committee of the Parliament on challenges in Intellectual Property Rights-international and domestic, here today. Introducing the topic Shri Sharma said, “the theme of today’s discussions becomes particularly relevant as the President of India has declared this decade as a decade of innovation and the National Innovation Council has now been established by our Prime Minister with a specific objective to delineate appropriate policy instruments which would catalyse innovation in industry”.

The Minister highlighted the persistent demands on data exclusivity. While data protection is something which must be respected, data exclusivity is well beyond the provisions of Article 39.3 of TRIPS agreement. India does not provide data exclusivity for pharmaceuticals and agro-chemicals which is in the paramount interest of our generic pharmaceutical industry as grant of data exclusivity would have considerable impact in delaying the entry into the market of cheaper generic drugs, he remarked.

Shri Sharma spoke strongly against the seizure of Indian generic medicines in EU at Netherlands. He stated that, “These detentions of Indian generics by Europe were deemed to be TRIPS violative by us and India submitted its request on 11th May 2007 to the Dispute Settlement body of WTO. India and Brazil have jointly held two rounds of consultation with EU in July and September last year. As a result of our persistent efforts, during the recent India-EU Summit, EU informed that the Commission has intensified efforts on finalisation of proposal for revision of Regulation 1383 and hopefully they should be able to complete their international processes shortly.” India has watched with concern the attempt of certain developed countries to enact Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA) which contain TRIPS plus provisions relating to enforcement of Intellectual Properties. The Minister apprised the members about the steps taken by the government in this direction. All the concerned Departments including DIPP, Health, Pharmaceuticals and MEA are acting in concert.

Shri Sharma informed that there is fourfold increase in the filing of patents from 8,503 applications in 2000-01 to 34,290 in 2009-10. Similarly, trademark applications have gone up from 84,275 to 1,41,943 last year. An allocation of Rs.327 crore for modernization and strengthening of the organisation has been made in the XI Plan. 414 plan posts have been created at various levels. India has concluded access agreements with European Patent Office, German Patent Office, Canadian and American Patent Office. Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) has been set up with the initiative of AYUSH and CSIR, there are more than 2 lakh formulations that have been transcribed in patent application format in five international languages namely English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese.

Shri Harin Pathak, a member, pointed out there should an aggressive strategy to tap and harness true potential of IPR. He suggested opening of many more offices and branches for registration of patents and Trade Marks. He also stressed the need for a common umbrella organization to deal with IPR issues. Shri Naresh Gujral emphasized the need to make local populations aware against the PR onslaught of MNC. Shri Srinivasulu Reddy appreciated Government role about the legal path they have taken to protect the pharma industry. He said timely and swift action will keep us at competitive advantage stage. Shri Bal Kumar Patel and Prof Anil Kumar Sahni were also present.

 *****

DS

Data exclusivity challenged as harmful to generics; government opposes TRIPS plus enforcement internationally and seeks safeguards. The government opposes data exclusivity for pharmaceuticals and agro chemicals as beyond TRIPS obligations, arguing it would delay generics; India has pursued WTO consultations and bilateral talks with the EU over detention of Indian generics, raised concerns about TRIPS plus provisions in instruments like ACTA, and is coordinating inter departmental measures. Concurrently, the state is strengthening IPR administration through increased filings, funding and posts, international patent office access agreements, and a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library to protect and document indigenous formulations.