Feb 06 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
`Developed Economies can Learn from India's Global IP Strategy'
Soma Das & Dilasha Seth
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New Delhi
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Developed economies can learn a few lessons from the way India is going about creating a comprehensive global intellectual property rights strategy, said the International Trademark Association or INTA, a New York-based international grouping of 5,900 trademark owners that says its members contribute over $10 trillion to global GDP annually.“Our countries have a lot to learn from the growing economies. While we (INTA) are based in the US and I am half French and half Spanish, none of the three countries have an IPR strategy like the one India is developing now. Having a new global comprehensive strategy is something that some of (these) countries are lacking,” said Etienne Sanz de Acedo, CEO of INTA.
This comes at a time when the US government and many American companies have been critical of India’s intellectual rights policies, particularly those relating to patents. While de Acedo declined to comment on India’s patent policies, INTA has told the government in its submission on draft IP policy that “trademark rights and other intellectual property rights should be ‘balanced’ both in overall national policies (for instance, health policy) and in their enforcement as they pertain to related rights (for instance, traditional knowledge) and the goal of protecting consumers”.
Pushing for global harmoniza tion of trademark practices, the body has urged India to join the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, which establishes common standards for procedural aspects of trademark registration and licensing. The brandowners body met the government-constituted IPR think tank on Thursday to give feedback on India's draft IP strategy.
In its comments, reviewed by ET, the grouping says there is an “urgent need” for incorporating the concept of “statutory damage” in the India’s existing laws that should be significant enough to deter the violation of IP rights. This basically means that the sum to be awarded in case of intellectual property infringements should be mandated in the law rather than depending on a new calculation every time a violation occurs. “In India, like in most other countries, damages sometimes are not sufficient and frequently arrive too late. Many judges believe as long as the infringement is stopped they have resolved the issue. But by the time a decision is pronounced, after having gone through a multilayered judiciary, the infringer has been able to take full advantage of the delay, sometimes by counterfeiting,” said J Scott Evans, president, INTA, and associate general counsel of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
He added that it is very difficult for judges to understand the economic dynamics of damages, particularly at a time when technology is changing the world and its practices so rapidly.
This comes at a time when the US government and many American companies have been critical of India’s intellectual rights policies, particularly those relating to patents. While de Acedo declined to comment on India’s patent policies, INTA has told the government in its submission on draft IP policy that “trademark rights and other intellectual property rights should be ‘balanced’ both in overall national policies (for instance, health policy) and in their enforcement as they pertain to related rights (for instance, traditional knowledge) and the goal of protecting consumers”.
Pushing for global harmoniza tion of trademark practices, the body has urged India to join the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, which establishes common standards for procedural aspects of trademark registration and licensing. The brandowners body met the government-constituted IPR think tank on Thursday to give feedback on India's draft IP strategy.
In its comments, reviewed by ET, the grouping says there is an “urgent need” for incorporating the concept of “statutory damage” in the India’s existing laws that should be significant enough to deter the violation of IP rights. This basically means that the sum to be awarded in case of intellectual property infringements should be mandated in the law rather than depending on a new calculation every time a violation occurs. “In India, like in most other countries, damages sometimes are not sufficient and frequently arrive too late. Many judges believe as long as the infringement is stopped they have resolved the issue. But by the time a decision is pronounced, after having gone through a multilayered judiciary, the infringer has been able to take full advantage of the delay, sometimes by counterfeiting,” said J Scott Evans, president, INTA, and associate general counsel of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
He added that it is very difficult for judges to understand the economic dynamics of damages, particularly at a time when technology is changing the world and its practices so rapidly.
