India, US ink pact on IP cooperation and protection
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, DEC 03, 2020: INDIA and the U.S. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in the field of intellectual property (IP) cooperation and protection for the next 10 years.
India's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), signed the deal with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in a virtual meeting on Wednesday.
“The MoU will go a long way in fostering the cooperation between India and U.S., and provide opportunities to both countries to learn from the experience of each other, especially in terms of best practices followed in the other country. It will be a landmark step forward in India's journey towards becoming a major player in global innovation,” said a press release from the MoCI.
The agreement describes a range of cooperative activities pertaining to exchanging best practices, collaborating in training programmes, securing and enforcing IP rights in the areas of patents, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, and industrial designs.
The agreement will also help in facilitating exchange and dissemination of best practices, experiences and knowledge on IP among the public, and to the industry, universities, research and development (R&D) organisations, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The MoU will help in exchanging information on the development and implementation of automation and modernisation projects, new documentation and information systems in IP and procedures for management of IP Office services.
It will also ensure cooperation between the two nations to understand the issues related to traditional knowledge, and the exchange of best practices, including those related to the databases and raise awareness on the use of existing IP systems to protect the same knowledge.
Additional cooperation activities will be mutually decided by the participants, said the MoCI. Both sides will also draw up a Biennial Work Plan to implement the MoU which will include the detailed planning for carrying out of the cooperation activities including the scope of action.