Just ahead of the next round of the strategic dialogue with the United States, the Indian government is pushing back against allegations from American industry groups that it engages in discriminatory trade practices and does not respect global intellectual property (IP) standards.
The Indian embassy in Washington, DC, said in a statement on Wednesday that India was fully committed to protecting intellectual property. "India has a complete eco-system supporting a well-settled, stable and robust intellectual property regime. Its three main pillars are comprehensive laws, detailed rules to back them up, and strong enforcement mechanisms, including for dispute resolution," the embassy said.
American industry groups representing several major sectors of the US economy, including biotech, pharma, technology products and motion pictures, launched the Alliance for Fair Trade with India (AFTI) on June 18, calling on US President Barack Obama to engage the Indian government in talks to end what they described as India's unfair trade practices against US manufactured exports and innovative products. They have urged US Secretary of State John Kerry to bring up their complaint at the Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi next week.
The AFTI is co-chaired by the National Association of Manufacturers and the US Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC). In a January 2013 report comparing IP systems worldwide, GIPC alleged India consistently ranked last, behind Brazil, China and Russia, in promotion and enforcement of patents, copyrights and trademarks. "From unprecedented patent revocations and denials to insufficient copyright enforcement, India has established itself as an outlier in the global economy," said Mark Elliott, GIPC's executive vice-president.
On Wednesday, the Indian embassy in Washington described the Indian Patents Act as one of the most comprehensive acts and asserted it was rigorously enforced. It noted that American nationals and corporations had received the highest share of all patents granted in India. "India granted 4,064 patents for pharmaceutical inventions during the period from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2011, and more than 85 per cent were owned by foreign companies in India. This trend shows that the provisions of the Indian Patents Act related to pharmaceutical products are fair and unbiased," the embassy said.
The Indian Supreme Court's ruling against Swiss drugmaker Novartis in denying patent protection to its anti-cancer drug Glivec earlier this year had been sharply criticised by the American pharmaceutical industry. AFTI has also alleged that "administrative and court rulings in India have repeatedly ignored internationally recognised rights, imposing restrictions on medical devices and denying or revoking patents for nearly a dozen lifesaving medications".
The Indian government defended its provisions for compulsory licensing of pharmaceutical products, saying they were in accordance with the global TRIPS agreement. An Indian embassy official pointed out that more than 35 compulsory licences had been issued by 15 countries, whereas India has issued only one.
AFTI says immediate action is needed to fix the growing bilateral trade relationship, which crossed $60 billion last year. Industry groups also complained to Obama that the Indian government had recently demanded 100 per cent of its market for certain infotech and clean energy equipment had to be met by local production.
A bipartisan group of members from the US House of Representatives has also written to President Obama on this issue. In a letter dated June 18, 169 lawmakers from the Democratic and Republican parties singled out problems related to what they called the increasingly challenging IP climate in India. Warning that India was a "thought leader among emerging countries" and that others were already emulating India's IP policies, the lawmakers said, "The US government must send a strong signal to the Indian government that these actions are inconsistent with India's international obligations." Signatories to the letter include members of the India Caucus in the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the US Senate confirmed Michael Froman, a senior economic advisor to President Obama, as the next US Trade Representative, succeeding Ron Kirk.
