The US has put India on the Priority Watch List for lax intellectual property regime along with 14 other countries. India, however, stands a notch below Ukraine, China and Paraguay on the list.
Lack of product patent protection for pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals in India has been cited as an area of improvement in the United States Trade Representative's 2004 Special 301 Report released on Monday night.
The report also says India should fulfill obligations to protect confidential test data, submitted by innovative pharmaceutical companies for market approval and popularly called data exclusivity regulations.
India has figured on USTR's Priority Watch List in the past, but this year the report compliments India for a comparatively improved IPR regime.
The government is in the process of enacting a law for product patent protection and has also initiated consultations with the domestic industry on the issue of data exclusivity.
"While the US is encouraged by the Indian government's recent statements regarding the implementation of data exclusivity regulations, India is yet to implement the TRIPS obligation to protect confidential test data submitted by pharmaceutical firms," the report said.
The protection of foreign trademarks is cited as another area of concern since rights holders are required to prove that they have used their mark to avoid a counterclaim for registration cancellation due to non-use.
"Such proof can be difficult, given India's policy of discouraging foreign trademark use. Companies denied the right to import and sell products in India often are unable to demonstrate the use of registered trademarks through local sale," it said.
India's Copyright Act has also been criticised. The absence of an optical disc law in India to protect piracy of copyrighted materials like compact discs and VCDs also weaken the IPR framework.
The report added that there was large-scale counterfeiting of medicines and automobile parts, which were also exported from India.
In the recent past, Indian agencies had cracked down on counterfeiting and the software, music and film industry had been vigilant to spot instances of piracy and report it to local administrations.
The European Union, Argentina, Pakistan, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia and Korea are among the other countries which have been classified along with India on the Priority Watch List.
The US government proposes to approach the World Trade Organisation if countries did not put in place proper IPR protection mechanisms, the report said.
On the list
- Lack of product patent protection for pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals in India has been cited as an area of improvement.
- The protection of foreign trademarks is cited as another area of concern.
- The absence of an optical disc law to protect piracy of copyrighted materials like compact discs and VCDs has also been criticised.
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