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THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY)
(a) & (b): Agricultural, natural or manufactured goods are registered as Geographical Indications (GI) by the Geographical Indications Registry as per the provisions of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999.
As on December 11, 2017, 303 GIs (including GI Logo) have been registered, which may be categorized as follows:
<pre>
Registered Geographical Indications
Sl.No. Types of Goods No. of Registered GIs
1 Agricultural 85
2 Manufactured 10
3 Food Stuff 10
4 Handicraft 71
5 Textiles 85
6 Natural Goods 01
7 GI Logo Applications Registered 29
Sub-total- Indian GIs Registered 291
8 Foreign GIs Registered 12
Total GIs Registered (Sl.No. 1 to 8) 303
</pre>
The list of products registered as Geographical Indications is enclosed as Annexure.
(c): The Government is not aware of any index by the name of International Intellectual Property (IP) Index published by any multilateral organisation. However, a private entity namely, Global Intellectual Property Centre (GIPC) of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC), prepares an International Intellectual Property Index, which does not provide a composite view of the IP regime in any country. The intellectual property rights indicators used in the index are selective and hence not a true reflection of the state of Intellectual Property Rights protection and innovation in India.
(d): The Government of India ratifies various international IP treaties on the basis of national interest guided by its strategic, public health and developmental needs.
(e) & (f): A Scheme for IPR Awareness has been adopted on 26th May 2017 to raise awareness on IP Rights among all sections of society. The scheme targets conducting IP awareness workshops/ seminars in collaboration with industry organizations, academic institutions and other stakeholders across the country. These awareness programmes are tailored for the following categories: Schools, Universities/ Colleges and Industry, including MSMEs and Startups. The scheme also envisages IP training and sensitization programmes for enforcement agencies (Police) and the Judiciary. The objective of the said Scheme is to foster creativity and innovation and thereby, promote entrepreneurship.
India has a well-established legislative, administrative and judicial framework to safeguard Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), which meets its international obligations while utilizing the flexibilities provided in the international regime to address its developmental concerns. India has a Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) compliant, robust, equitable and dynamic IPR regime.
In addition, the Government of India has taken various steps to further strengthen the IPR regime of the country, some of which are as follows:
• The National IPR Policy, 2016 was adopted on 12.05.2016 as a vision document to guide future development of IPRs in the country. It has seven objectives :
i. IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion – To create public awareness about the economic, social and cultural benefits of IPRs among all sections of society.
ii. Generation of IPRs – To stimulate the generation of IPRs.
iii. Legal and Legislative Framework – To have strong and effective IPR laws, which balance the interests of rights owners with larger public interest.
iv. Administration and Management – To modernize and strengthen service oriented IPR administration.
v. Commercialization of IPR – Get value for IPRs through commercialization.
vi. Enforcement and Adjudication – To strengthen the enforcement and adjudicatory mechanisms for combating IPR infringements.
vii. Human Capital Development – To strengthen and expand human resources, institutions and capacities for teaching, training, research and skill building in IPRs.
• Creating and exploiting synergies in the IPR environment is of paramount importance. The administration of Copyright Act, 1957 and Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000, along with their associated Registries, has been transferred to the DIPP. Subsequently, under the Finance Act, 2017, the Copyright Board has also been merged in the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
• The Patents Rules, 2003 and the Trademarks Rules, 2002 have been amended whereby the IP processes have been re-engineered to streamline them and make them more user-friendly.
• Manpower in the Intellectual Property offices has been ramped up significantly with recruitment of an additional 458 Patent Examiners apart from the existing 130. An additional 59 Trademark Examiners on regular basis and 84 on contract basis have also been deployed. This augmentation of manpower has already had a salutary effect on the examination and disposal of patent and trademark applications. For instance, the number of patent applications examined till November in the year 2017-18 are 35756, as compared to just 12520 in the corresponding period last year. The examination time for trademark applications has also come down from the earlier 13 months to just 1 month. Further, new posts of 84 examiners and 95 controllers have been approved for Patent Office, as also 38 examiners and 58 Registrars in the Trademark Registry in the current year.
• Apart from country-wide awareness programmes, an IPR Enforcement toolkit for the Police has also been prepared, which is a ready reckoner for police officials across the country in dealing with IP crimes.
• Special provisions have been made for startups and MSMEs.
• The Government has entered into an agreement with WIPO for establishment of Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC).
• The Commercial Courts set up under the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 also deal with IP disputes.
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