USTR raises IP concerns on draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Wednesday said that right holders remain concerned with the concise language on intellectual property (IP) protection in India’s draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill. It also said that problematic issues may be reintroduced at the rule-making stage after the bill is enacted.

“The United States is closely following the progress of this bill,” the USTR said in its 2023 Annual Special 301 Report
and encouraged India to undertake a transparent process that provides stakeholders with sufficient opportunity to comment on this and other potential legislation affecting IP.


In December 2021, a Joint Parliamentary Committee released a report recommending changes to the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (PDPB) that could undermine important IP protections in India, according to the USTR report.

“The United States on several occasions and in various fora raised IP concerns regarding this report and the Data Protection Bill, 2021,” it said, adding that the improved draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill took steps to address concerns from the previous draft regarding intellectual property protection.

“However, right holders remain concerned with the concise language of the bill noting that problematic issues may be reintroduced at the rule-making stage after the bill is enacted,” it said.