In the recent times, India has been trying to establish itself as an

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) friendly nation in the world, by defining its
standards as per the Global Intellectual Property norms. This has been
clearly reflected in some of the latest developments in the laws related to
Intellectual Property Rights in India.
 One such effort can be seen in the Indian government’s vision to set-
up fully computerized Intellectual Property offices based on the
United States Patent and Trademark Office model.
 The Government has recently approved the Patent Prosecution
Highway Program which will ease and expedite the process of patent
examination in India.
 Changes in the Manual of Patent Office Practice and Procedures
have clarified and eased several filing processes.
 Other developments in the IP regime include the Defence Research
and Development Organisation (DRDO) allowing free access of its
450 patent to industries.
 This newsletter aims to bring to you the latest updates in the IP
segment.

Ensuring better legal protection will give a fillip to grassroots innovation and improve
the lives of ordinary Indians.
The future of IPR in India will depend on three things: 
 awareness about IPR benefits,
 stronger enforcement,
 and convincing Indians that national interest will not be compromised.

Slowly, there has been progress in ensuring IPR protection. There has been
some resistance to stronger IPR protection by those who feel that it could work
against India’s interests.
For example, it could make life-saving drugs more expensive and out of reach
of large chunks of the Indian population.
The Indian pharmaceutical industry also produces large volumes of generic
drugs, which are relatively inexpensive and accessible.
 A stronger IPR regime, it is feared, would make it far more difficult to produce
these. There are also fears that stronger IPR laws could affect food security if
seeds and other products are patented.