The high-level panel set up by the Government to help it draft a National Intellectual Property Rights policy will submit its report later this week. “The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion will prepare a draft based on the panel report and circulate it to all ministries and departments for comments,” a DIPP official told BusinessLine .

The new IPR policy, which will be based on the existing IPR laws, will then be firmed up based on all inputs, the official added.

The six-member panel, chaired by retired Justice Prabha Sridevan, has received inputs from all concerned including foreign companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Pfizer, Tata Group, Indian trade bodies CII, FICCI and Confederation of All India Traders, Japanese trade body Jetro and US business chambers such as Amcham and US India Business Council.

India has recently come under fire from various countries, especially the US, on its intellectual property rules which several companies allege discourage innovation.

Best practices

The panel will advise the Government on best practices to be followed in trademark offices, patent offices and other government offices dealing with IPRs to create an efficient and transparent system of functioning. It also has to provide views on the implications of demands placed by the negotiating partners and prepare periodic reports on best practice followed in foreign countries.

“We have to have policies that project India as a forward looking nation. We don’t have to change our laws but by spelling out existing laws clearly within a policy framework, we will help both our industry and foreign companies in dealing with intellectual property,” the official added.

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