India and the US have signed an agreement on intellectual property rights (IPR) ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit. The Cabinet Wednesday approved an MoU with the US on the issue of IPRs, information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said.

The notion was raised several weeks ago by Costa Rican officials amid mounting concern that some Covid-19 medical products may not be accessible for poorer populations. By establishing a voluntary mechanism under the auspices of the WHO, the goal is to establish a pathway that will attract numerous governments, as well as industry, universities and nonprofit organizations.

NEW DELHI: India and the US have signed an agreement on intellectual property rights (IPR) ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit. The Cabinet Wednesday approved an MoU with the US on the issue of IPRs, information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said.

Terming it a knowledge-sharing agreement, officials said the agreement will enrich the IPR systems between the two sides. The pact comes in the wake of India slipping to 40th position on the US Chamber’s International IP Index. The country continues to figure in the US’ Priority Watch List that identifies trade barriers to US companies due to IP laws of other countries.

“It is about active cooperation between India and the US to enrich the IPR systems between the two sides. We’ve done such MoUs with a few other countries also but looking at the importance of overall relationships between these two countries, this is important,” said a senior official.

The decision comes ahead of Trump’s maiden visit to India on February 24-25, and after the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade had a discussion on reviewing the country’s IPR laws.

According to another official, the MoU is a learning exercise and the agreement spans across the entire IPR regime including patents and copyrights and is not specific to any sector. “It doesn’t involve any implementation of laws. There would be training sessions and experts, and officials.

Credits: economictimes.com