US to launch fresh review of India's patent regime

NEW DELHI: Within days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's return from the US, the US Trade Representative (USTR) has launched a fresh offensive against India's intellectual property rights (IPR) regime, a move that may lead to the government going slow on a bilateral dialogue with Washington.

On Tuesday, USTR will launch what it calls an "out-of-cycle review" (OCR) of India's IPR regime, following a report released earlier this year, where India was put on the priority watch list due to "heightened level of concern about the deterioration in India's environment for IP protection and enforcement". Now, it is seeking public comments and information related to law, policies, or practices related to India's IPR.

The US government has been under pressure from local lobby groups, led by pharma multinationals, to initiate action as the Indian law has special provisions that allow patent authorities to reject a patent application citing lack of innovation. Big Pharma is particularly upset with the use of compulsory licensing provisions that allowed authorities in India to waive the patent rights for a cancer drug and fear that other countries may follow suit to make drugs more affordable for patients.
An EC team is likely to visit J&K after the Maharashtra-Haryana election before it takes a final call on the poll timing.