The US will push India into giving adequate protection to intellectual property regime (IPR), a major bone of contention between the two countries. A top state department diplomat said on Friday that if there is one thing that investors from the US would continue to seek from India is transparency in policy, especially related to intellectual property rights.
When an American investor approaches any market, he is going to look for at least a presence of transparency , predictability and rule of law," Charles Rivkin, assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, US said in Mumbai. "And in rule of law, IPR law is critical, and I believe that we could do better working with our friends in India to improve it."
In his first visit to India, Rivkin said he will be initiating a dialogue with Indian government and companies on how to improve trade between both the countries, and protection of intellectual property would be an important part of that discussion.
Rivkin said that Prime Minister Modi, during his visit to the United States, has set an extraordinary tone and is perceived as someone who engages with bureaucrats to get work done. "It is perceived by the American business community that the new administration is very business friendly. We still have obstacles to overcome in order to maximise the trade relation, but there are so many opportunities for American business to explore," Rivkin added.
India-US business relations have experienced a major pinprick on the issue of India's intellectual property regime. The US companies consider India as being weak in protecting product rightsThe impasse was triggered when India's court refused to grant patents, and in some cases also revoked patents by using the compulsory licence regime, which is permitted under the Trade Related Intellectual Property agreement. Post the Modi's visit to the US, both the countries decided to set up a high-level intellectual property committee to look into this issue, this committee would for the first time meet in Delhi next week.
When asked if US was arm-twisting India to change its IP regime despite the country being compliant with the World Trade Organisation rules, Rivkin said it was not arm twisting, but in the interest of India to have stronger IP regime. "India needs to protect its own interest, when it creates something that changes the world, doesn't it make sense to protect it"? he asked
