New IPR Policy

The Government has approved the National IPR Policy on 12^th May 2016. The policy lays down the following seven objectives:

1. IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion- Generation of IPRs: To create public awareness about the economic, social and cultural benefits of IPRs among all sections of society;

2. Generation of IPRs- To stimulate the generation of IPRs;

3. Legal and Legislative Framework:To have strong and effective IPR laws, which balance the interests of rights owners with larger public interest;

4. Administration and Management: To modernize and strengthen service-oriented IPR administration;

5. Commercialization of IPR:Get value for IPRs through commercialization;

6. Enforcement and Adjudication: To strengthen the enforcement and adjudicatory mechanisms for combating IPR infringements;

7. Human Capital Development:To strengthen and expand human resources, institutions and capacities for teaching, training, research and skill building in IPRs;

The policy is a vision document that lays the roadmap for future development in the field of IPRs. It is comprehensive and holistic, and cannot be said to lack specifics. It lists specific action points to be implemented towards fulfillment of the aforementioned objectives. These action points have been assigned to specific nodal departments for implementation. Already, certain points like transfer of Copyright and Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion have been acted upon and the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules accordingly changed. Similarly, augmentation of manpower, including recruitment of 458 Patent Examiners, has been done.

This information was given by the Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Source - PIB