Ficci welcomes US decision on India on IPR front

Industry body Ficci today welcomed the US decision to keep India out of 'Priority Foreign Country' list saying inclusion in this worst classification could have adversely impacted economic, political and trade relations.
"India has a well-established legislative, administrative and judicial framework to safeguard IPRs which meets its obligations under TRIPS, and has withheld the test of severe international scrutiny".
"We are glad to note that India has not been given the Priority Country status as this could have had serious ramifications on economic, political and trade sanctions," Ficci Secretary General A Didar Singh said.
Meanwhile, India made it clear it will not take part in any unilateral investigation by the US on its intellectual property rights (IPRs).

The US Trade Representative (USTR) it its Special 301 Report yesterday kept India out of the Priority Foreign Country list, the worst classification for countries considered to have inadequate intellectual property laws, and said it will hold discussions with the next government in New Delhi on enforcement and protection of intellectual property rights.
Special 301 Report is an annual review of the global state of IPR protection and enforcement.

The Obama administration had been strongly criticising India's investment climate and IPR laws, especially in the pharmaceutical and solar sectors.
The US International Trade Commission had raised the matter of India's rejection of patents for Bristol-Myers Squibb's Sprycel and Novartis AG's Glivec. It said Indian IPR laws were not compliant with Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) under WTO.

Swiss pharma major Novartis lost the legal battle to get its blood cancer drug Glivec patented in India and restrain Indian companies from manufacturing generic versions. The Supreme Court rejected the multinational firm's plea.