NEW DELHI, April 28 (Bernama) -- India has conveyed its "big disappointment" to the United States for retaining New Delhi on the 'Priority Watch List', which binds Washington to exert pressure on America's trade partners to improve their copyright and patent regimes, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
"It is a big disappointment for us. Why should we be on the 'Priority Watch List (PWL)' even after the recognition we have got from the World Intellectual Property Organisation," N N Prasad, Joint Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, told PTI Monday.
Prasad said India has sent its strong reaction to the US.
"Let's wait for the results," he said.
The US Trade Representative (USTR) issues an annual Special 301 report, which examines in detail the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in America's trading partners.
Once a country is listed under the PWL, it provides a basis to the US for a "constructive engagement" with its trading partners. According to Indian patent experts, this means exerting diplomatic pressure on a country for improving its patent regime.
In its latest review, the USTR said, "Large scale copyright piracy, especially in the software, optical media and publishing industries continues to be a major problem" in India.
The USTR in its report has said that the piracy of copyright material (primarily software, films, popular fiction and certain textbooks) remains a problem for both US and Indian producers.
"Costs to the US industry are estimated to be more than one billion dollar in 2008," the USTR has said.
Commenting on the challenges that India may face on IPR issues, Prasad said that at international level there is a need to ensure that India's traditional knowledge is not misappropriated.
He also said that to modernise and meet manpower shortages in intellectual property offices, the Government is aiming to hire 1,380 people in the next three to four years.
In coming years all IPR data would be computerised, he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment