Delhi High Court commended in USTR Annual Special 301 Report on IP Protection

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently released its Annual Special 301 Report on intellectual property rights, protection and enforcement, in which it has applauded the Delhi High Court for creating an Intellectual Property (IP) Division along with the Cell for Intellectual Property Rights Promotion & Management (CIPAM)..In July 2021, the Delhi High Court set up its IP division to deal solely with cases related to intellectual property issues.The decision was taken based on the recommendations of a two-member committee comprising Justices Prathiba M Singh and Sanjeev Narula, which was constituted by then Chief Justice DN Patel.With similar IP Courts already functioning in UK, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, China etc., this step by the High Court falls in line with established global practices..This move of the Delhi High Court was laudent in the USTR Annual Special 301 Report, which identifies trade barriers to American companies, primarily due to the IP laws and legislations of other countries."Among other positive developments, in the wake of India’s abolition of the IPAB, the Delhi High Court created an IP Division in July 2021 and released finalized draft rules for that Division in December 2021 for comment."The report also expressed admiration for the CIPAM and its continued efforts to promote IP awareness, commercialization, and enforcement throughout India. .The report speaks of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that was entered into between the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), relating to IP technical cooperation mechanisms.India's accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty and WIPO Copyright Treaty, collectively known as the WIPO Internet Treaties, in 2018 and the Nice Agreement in 2019 were hailed as 'positive steps'.Similarly, the report also spoke of India’s commitment at the United States-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in November 2021 to comply with the WIPO Internet Treaties, as a welcome development. "However, amendments to the Indian Copyright Act needed to bring India’s domestic legislation into alignment with international best practices are absent. The United States is monitoring India’s next steps, including any actions taken following DPIIT’s October 2020 solicitation of public comments on amending the Indian Copyright Act," the report stated..However, the USTR, in its report, said that India is still one of the most challenging major economies, with respect to enforcement and protection of IP."While India made meaningful progress to promote IP protection and enforcement in some areas over the past year, it failed to resolve recent and long-standing challenges, and it created new concerns for right holders", the report stated.Not only that, but the report also places India on the 'Priority Watch List' along with countries like Russia, China, Indonesia, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela; for lacking requisite IPR protection and enforcement..With regards to the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, the report mentions that in December 2021, the Joint Parliamentary Committee released its report recommending changes to the bill as it could undermine important IP protections in India.The primary recommendation was the enlargement of the bill’s scope to include further regulation of non-personal data instead of addressing that issue under separate legislation..With respect to IP concerns of the United States regarding India, the report said,"The United States on several occasions and in various fora has raised IP concerns regarding the potential implementation of India’s data governance regime. These concerns are particularly acute given India’s outdated and insufficient legal framework for protecting trade secrets. The report stated that the US would continue to encourage India to undertake a transparent process concerning this and other potential legislation affecting IP and provide stakeholders with sufficient opportunity to comment..[Read full report].Delhi High Court creates new nomenclature for cases involving IPR disputes