[Commons-Law] US for review of India's patent laws

[Anivar Aravind]

US for review of India's patent laws
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1230723.php/US_for_review_of_Indias_patent_laws

New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS) India needs to review its patent regime
especially in regard to piracy in order to match international
standards in intellectual property rights (IPR) laws, said US Under
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Jon W. Dudas here
Thursday.

'I commend India's efforts in passing the 2005 Patent Amendment, which
extended patent protection to pharmaceuticals and agricultural
chemicals. However, there are still some areas like data exclusivity
and piracy which had been overlooked,' Dudas, told a conference on
Patent and IPR Laws.


'This will be beneficial for India in the sense that it will help
attract more foreign investment in the country,' he said at the
conference jointly organised by the US embassy and Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII).


On protecting data exclusivity, the US Under Secretary said: 'The US
government would like to work with India to encourage the
establishment of a Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS), which is a consistent data protection regime for
innovative pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical test data.'


He also referred to the fact that the Indian music industry had
declined by 50 percent in 2004 and India's entertainment sector
continues to faces huge losses due to increasing piracy problems.


'We have urged the Indian government to revise the amendments made to
the IPR laws and we are looking forward to work together with the
government to ensure that the revised copyright law provides adequate
protection to copyright owners and creators,' Dudas said.


(c) 2006 Indo-Asian News Service