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Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
US faults India on weak intellectual property protection; domestic R&D spend remains low
Placing India, China and six other countries on its 'priority watch list' for weak intellectual property (IP) protection, the US on Tuesday said that New Delhi remains one of the world's most challenging major economies in terms of the protection and enforcement of IP rights, according to the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) Special 301 Report released on Tuesday. The USTR report stated that over the past year, India has remained inconsistent in its progress on IP protection and enforcement, even as it has worked to strengthen its IP regime, including by raising public awareness about the importance of IP. 'There continues to be a lack of progress on many long-standing IP concerns raised in prior Special 301 Reports. India remains one of the world's most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of IP,' the report said. Experts have flagged that foreign companies cornering a large share of patents in the Indian market could increase the country's technology dependency and imports from the US. New Delhi 's R&D spending remains lower than that of leading economies, which are also the biggest sources of patent applications in India. While neighbouring China spends 2.43 per cent of its GDP on R&D, the figure stands at 4.93 per cent for South Korea, 1.21 per cent for Thailand, 2.21 per cent for the European Union, and 3.46 per cent for the United States. Patents to foreigners up The continued US push to liberalise the Indian patent regime comes even as patent grants to foreigners have surged past those to domestic applicants. Patents granted to non-resident individuals and entities stood at 74.46 per cent in 2022 — among the highest shares in any major economy globally. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) data show that the comparable figure for manufacturing powerhouse China was just 12.87 per cent. While foreign calls for stronger patent protection are gaining momentum, India's spending on research and development as a percentage of GDP has stagnated over the years. R&D spending is now below the 0.83 per cent of GDP recorded in 2008, the highest in the past two decades. The comparable figure slipped to 0.65 per cent in 2022, according to World Bank data — much lower than the global average of 2.62 per cent. Weak trade secret protection Companies also continue to face uncertainty due to insufficient legal means to protect trade secrets in India, the USTR said, adding that 'currently no civil or criminal laws in India specifically address the protection of trade secrets'. 'Criminal penalties are not expressly available for trade secret misappropriation in India, and civil remedies reportedly are difficult to obtain and do not have a deterrent-level effect,' the report said. 'One particular issue highlighted by stakeholders is the requirement for companies to disclose their source code for telecom equipment undergoing required certification and security testing at designated Indian facilities. The United States encourages India to continue working toward providing adequate and effective protection of trade secrets,' the report added. Access to technologies Despite India's justification of limiting IP protections as a means of promoting access to technologies, it maintains high customs duties on IP-intensive products such as information and communications technology (ICT) products, solar energy equipment, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and capital goods, the report said. 'Stakeholders also continue to raise concerns as to whether India has an effective system for protecting against the unfair commercial use and unauthorised disclosure of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products,' the USTR said. In the pharmaceutical sector, the United States continues to monitor the restriction on patent-eligible subject matter under Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act and its impact. 'Pharmaceutical stakeholders also express concerns as to whether India has an effective mechanism for the early resolution of potential pharmaceutical patent disputes. In particular, India does not have a system to provide notice to a patent holder or to allow for a patent holder to be notified prior to the marketing of a follow-on product, which limits transparency.'
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Feds must stop going easy on foreign patent thieves who hurt Pennsylvania
In the past few months, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have received more than a dozen patents, including for an experimental probiotic weight-loss therapy, a more durable and flexible solar cell and a new method of detecting and treating pancreatic cancer. But Pitt doesn't have the ability — or the desire, for that matter — to spend the billions of dollars it'd take to turn these good ideas into real world products. Instead, Pitt and other research universities across the Commonwealth typically license these patents to startups and small businesses. Those firms then take the initial breakthroughs and invest enormous sums in further research and development. Unfortunately, these firms face a growing threat from foreign countries, which are increasingly invalidating or ignoring American patents and letting favored local companies steal the technology with impunity. And over the past few years, the federal agency tasked with calling out such abuse has — much like Punxsutawney Phil — been scared of its own shadow, refusing to speak up for fear of offending trading partners. It's time for Pennsylvania's congressional delegation to hold this agency accountable — and force it to hold foreign intellectual property thieves accountable in turn. For nearly 40 years, Congress has required the Office of the United States Trade Representative to issue an annual report detailing how effective our trading partners are at preventing the theft of American intellectual property. For decades, the USTR wasn't shy about naming and shaming violators. But starting in 2021, that annual document — known as the Special 301 Report — became noticeably less forceful in its defense of American firms' IP rights. It's hard to overstate the importance of strong, predictable IP protections to Pennsylvania's prosperity. From advanced manufacturing to energy, biotech, and medical technology, most of our state's top industries wouldn't exist without reliable patents. Pennsylvania isn't alone in this respect, of course. Nationally, IP-intensive industries support over 62 million jobs and generate more than 40% of national GDP. Simply put, it's IP rights that make it worthwhile for inventors to take risks on new ideas and to do the hard work of translating scientific breakthroughs into real-world products. But would-be copycats abroad have no respect for property rights. By one estimate, IP violations now cost the U.S. economy as much as $600 billion annually. One might expect that such widespread theft would provoke a harsh response from our trade officials. And yet in recent years, the USTR has grown less assertive in defending American IP. The Special 301 Report clearly illustrates this trend. Take the issue of compulsory licensing. Under this practice, foreign governments give permission to domestic companies to violate U.S. patents with impunity. Previous Special 301 Reports have been highly critical of compulsory licensing by countries including India, Ecuador, and Indonesia. But beginning in 2021, the Special 301 Report shied away from criticizing compulsory licensing -- and in some cases, even condoned the practice. In the wake of this recent shift, many of our trading partners have shown a new willingness to employ compulsory licenses improperly. For instance, in 2023, the European Commission began work on a new system for granting these licenses. The following year, Colombia issued its first-ever compulsory license on a state-of-the-art HIV drug. Opinion: Judicial independence is under threat. It's essential to our republic's survival The U.S. Trade Representative's recent failures are especially bad news for Pennsylvania's biotech industry. The life sciences sector is one of the Commonwealth's most important, responsible for more than $61 billion in annual economic activity and directly employing more than 100,000 workers. Between 2016 and 2020, Pennsylvania bioscience researchers qualified for an impressive 20,564 patents — placing us in the top five of all states. By diluting both the substance and the rhetoric of these reports, the U.S. Trade Representative effectively signaled to American entrepreneurs and inventors that the federal government wouldn't try to stop foreign countries from stealing the fruits of their labor. That message needs to change in the next report, which is expected sometime this spring. Pennsylvania's representatives in Congress should make this a priority in their constitutional oversight responsibilities. The next Special 301 Report must take a strong stand against compulsory licensing — as well as other unfair practices such as restrictive patenting requirements and price controls. A robust account will be crucial for fulfilling the White House's new trade policy, which aims to reinvigorate U.S. leadership in promoting a strong global IP network. Left unchallenged, IP violations will undermine the spirit of experimentation, risk-taking, and ingenuity that has powered Pennsylvania's economy since Ben Franklin. Former Democratic Congressman Ron Klink served four consecutive terms representing Pennsylvania's 4th Congressional District. This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Patent thieves threaten Pennsylvania IP and innovation | Opinion
