The Hindu Business Line : Need for quick legislation on IPR

THE country's growing recognition in the field of IT and high-end technology highlighted the need for intellectual property protection. Changes in treaties, laws, procedures and physical modernisation have been under way, but a lot remains to be done.

According to Mr Pravin Anand of Anand & Anand, a change in the present mindset is critical.

Mr Anand said, "Mindset on damages is changing — but very slowly." He was addressing a workshop on `Arbitration & mediation in intellectual property rights; Dispute resolution in technology agreements' jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry-Institute of Intellectual Property Development, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and World Intellectual Property Organisation, here on Monday.

He added that some institutional roadblocks, including judicial activism, effect of legislative lethargy, spamming, protection of gene sequences, activism were restricted to a few courts.

"There is an urgent need for quick legislation as far as intellectual property and technology dispute resolution in India are concerned," he said. Suggesting that innovative remedies be used in useful combinations, Mr Anand asserted that innovative methodologies could be useful to resolve disputes.

Sharing his perspectives on `Technology collaboration and licensing: Contractual arrangements and areas of potential disputes,' Dr Heinz Goddar of German company Boehmert & Boehmert, said that survival in a global environment was possible only if products maintain worldwide standards.

On patent licences, Dr Goddar said that securing its exclusivity by appropriate IPRs with respect to a certain technology, trademark, design, copyright or trade secret was the first duty of any potential licensor.

He said, "Without such title and right, there is nothing to prohibit and, therefore, also nothing to permit and accordingly to license for the licensor."

In his address, Dr H.R. Bhojwani, Scientist Emeritus, CSIR, stated that the main cause of disputes in intellectual property protection was because of the asymmetry in information shared between the `licensor' and the `licensee.' He said, "This information is never at par."

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