 "EPO sees large margin of improvement for Indian IPR regime")
Seeing a "very large margin of improvement" for the intellectual property rights (IPR) regime in India, the European Patent Office (EPO) has offered to expand its cooperation with the country in this regard.
EPO President Benoit Battistelli also said that India has all the elements to become a great player in the IP space with a vast talent pool of well-qualified people and its huge knowledge economy.
"We are developing very good cooperation with India and we would be happy to make more and have even closer links with India," Battistelli said.
"I think India still has a very large margin of improvement to develop its IPR," he added.
Stating that IP issues have been quite controversial in India, Battistelli said IP can be a very efficient way to develop its economy. He cited example of South Korea, saying it is now one of the biggest IP players in the world and their economy has become highly competitive after developing a strong IPR regime.
Last month, Indian government announced a comprehensive IPR policy in a move to incentivise entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation and curb manufacturing and sale of counterfeits.
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"I am convinced there is a link between a good IP system which is able to deliver patents which are really good patents for inventions which deserved to be protected and then there is a good link of patent with innovations, with competitiveness and with economic development," Battistelli said here on the sidelines of the European Inventor Award.
"I see that the potential is there and it is up to the Indian society, not only the government but also the economic community, the academy, universities, to pull all their capacities in order to become one of the global players," he added.
Last month, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the IPR policy will not only incentivise entrepreneurship and innovation in the country, but will aid in the conversion of copyrights and patents for commercial use.