For India having limited land resource in the face of increasing demand for food [for rapidly expanding population and increased nutritional intake], there is an urgent need for manifold increase in crop output from every unit cultivable land area to increase supply. The use of genetically modified [GM] crops offers the possibility of reducing crop loss [and resultant increase in yield] by killing pests and combating disease in a manner which saves substantially on pesticide use and is environmentally benign. Yet, Bt cotton is the only GM crop so far allowed for cultivation in India. It is a genetically modified plant in which a gene from the soil bacterium, bacillus thuringensis [Bt], is inserted into the genome of cotton. It...
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Category: Patent Amendment Act
Data exclusivity for agrochemicals brooks no delay
As per reports, Modi – government is considering a proposal to grant data exclusivity (DE) for agrochemicals for a period of 5 years. This could be a precursor to grant of similar dispensation for pharmaceuticals. The development may come as a pleasant surprise to US and EU based multinationals in both these segments who – backed by their respective governments – have been pitching for this for a long time but constantly rebuffed by Indian lawmakers thus far, ostensibly on the ground that grant of DE would be TRIPs (trade related intellectual property rights) plus. So, what does the TRIPs agreement of WTO (1995) which India implemented vide an amendment to the Indian Patent Act (2005) – after leveraging the...
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India’s case at WTO may fail to sail
Even as India rejects the US contention of failing to protect IP rights, passing the TRIPS test might be tough In the recently released Special 301 report on trade and industry practices, the US Trade Representative (USTR) has stopped short of putting India on its Priority Foreign Country (PFC) list. Under Special 301, USTR tracks the intellectual property (IP) rights record of countries and lists them according to the strength of their IP environment. If, on review, it identifies substantial deterioration in any country’s IP regime, it gets downgraded to PFC status which carries with it trade and economic sanctions. India may have escaped being listed as such for now, but the Damocles sword hangs over the country as the...
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Is India’s intellectual property (IP) regime WTO compliant?
In the just released Special 301 report on trade and industry practices,the US Trade Representative (USTR) has stopped short of downgrading India to ‘Priority Foreign Country’ (PFC) list. Under Special 301, USTR tracks intellectual property (IP) rights record of countries and lists countries that could face trade sanctions and other countries whose IPR regimes are deemed to be areas of lesser concern. If on review, it identifies substantial deterioration in its IP regime, the country gets downgraded to PFC status. India may have escaped it for now, but ‘damocles sword’ hangs as USTR intends to conduct what it calls ‘out-of-cycle’ reviews to promote engagements on IPR challenges with India. Describing as unilateral probe under US law which India has not...
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