US 'Special 301' process on IPR a unilateral measure: Nirmala

India today accused the US of taking "unilateral measure" to pressurise countries to accept Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection beyond WTO obligations.
"The Special 301 report issued by the US under their Trade Act of 1974 is a unilateral measure to create pressure on countries to enhance IPR protection beyond the TRIPS agreement," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
She said India continues to be placed on the priority watch list under the US Special 301 on account of US' assessment of Indian IPR (intellectual property right) protection being inadequate.
Under the WTO regime, any dispute between two countries needs to be referred to the dispute settlement body of the WTO and unilateral actions are not tenable under this regime, she said adding Special 301 which is an "extra territorial" application of the domestic law of a country is inconsistent with the established norms of the WTO.

She said the government is committed to fully utilising all the flexibilities provided under the TRIPS agreement to protect domestic pharmaceutical sector from pressure exerted by foreign countries.
In a separate reply, the minister said as on April 1, as many as 2,37,671 patent applications are pending and awaiting disposal at different stages of processing in Patent Offices.

The highest number of applications are pending in Delhi office (88,297) followed by Chennai (78,405), Kolkata (39,911) and Mumbai (31,058).
Sitharaman said the government is measures to make the patent application process more transparent.
She said that facilities for quick and efficient access to all types of data and information regarding patent processing are available on the official website for the benefit of users.

Dynamic utilities for knowing current status of patent applications and grant have been made available on the official website, she said adding e-register of patents containing all information including renewals, assignments and other legal status made available for public.
The patent office follows the queuing process strictly, she said.