Lok Sabha Question No. 3497 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-17
Subject: IIPI
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: M.K. Vishnu Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3497. TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 17 TH  MARCH, 2021.

IIPI

## 3497.  DR. VISHNU PRASAD M.K.:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: वाणिज्य  एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether International Intellectual Property Index (IIPI) has been released by the Global Innovation Policy Centre recently;
- (b) if so, the details thereof including the criteria fixed for determining the rankings in IIPI;
- (c) whether India's ranking has slipped in IIPI and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  made  any  effort  to  support  investments  in innovation  and  creativity  through  increasingly  robust  Intellectual  Property protection and enforcement and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the  number  of  Intellectual  Property  Rights  awareness  workshops/seminars conducted by the Government during the last three years and the current year so far; and
- (f) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to improve the ranking in IIPI?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज्य  एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री (श्री सोम प्रकाश) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI SOM PARKASH)

- (a): No Sir.  The  VIII  edition  of  the  International  Intellectual  Property  Index  (IIPI) was released by U.S Chamber of Commerce Global innovation Policy Centre (GIPC), on February 5, 2020 subsequent to which no further edition has been released.
- (b): As per the VIII Edition, the International Intellectual Property Index (IIPI) has mapped  the  Intellectual  Property  Ecosystem  in  53  Global  economies.  The index evaluates the Intellectual Property framework in each economy across 50 indicators spread across 9 categories.
- (c): As per the VIII edition India was ranked 40 th out of a total of 53 countries, as against 36 th in 50 countries assessed in 2019. While India ranked the very last out  of  all  the  countries  initially  in  2012,  it  has  improved  its  rank  gradually, indicating  a  consistent  improvement  in  India's  IPR  regime  according  to  the report.  Other  rankings  like  global  innovation  index  also  showcase  India's prowess in innovation and IP where India's rank improved to 48 in 2020 as against 81 in 2015.

India's ranking of IIPI for the last few years is as under:

| Edition   |   Year |   India's Rank |   No. of Countries |
|-----------|--------|----------------|--------------------|
| VIII      |   2020 |             40 |                 53 |
| VII       |   2019 |             36 |                 50 |
| VI        |   2018 |             44 |                 50 |
| V         |   2017 |             43 |                 45 |
| IV        |   2016 |             37 |                 38 |
| III       |   2015 |             29 |                 30 |
| II        |   2014 |             25 |                 25 |
| I         |   2012 |             11 |                 11 |

India's  overall  score  has  increased  from  36.04  (16.22  out  of  45)  in  the  VII edition,  to  38.46  (19.23  out  of  50)  in  the  VIII  edition.  India's  score  on  IP indicators improved from 16.22 (36.04%) to 19.23 in existing indicators which indicates  improvement  in  India's  IP  ecosystem.  Three  out  of  five  indicators added  recently  are  international  treaties  to  which  India  has  not  become member; hence it has not been scored against them.

- (d): Government of India has undertaken various steps to support investments in innovation and creativity through robust the IPR regime and enforcement in the country. Some of recent steps taken are:
- -The  facility  of  Expedited  Examination  has  been  provided  for  patent applications filed by Start-ups and for applications where the Applicant has selected Indian Patent office as ISA/IPEA for his PCT application. In the year 2019, Expedited Examination system has been extended for patent  applications  filed  by  small  entities  and  other  seven  more categories of applicants.
- -Design Amendment Rules, 2021 was notified in the Gazette of India on 25.01.2021 wherein provision has been made for 80% reduction in fee for  startups and small entities/MSMEs to bring them at par with natural persons.    This  would  incentivize  MSMEs  and  startups  to  file  for industrial designs.
- -The  scheme  for  facilitating  Start-ups  Intellectual  Property  Protection (SIPP) launched for encouraging innovation and creativity of start-ups wherein start-up entities can avail reimbursement for fee to be paid to facilitators while filing their patent applications, has been extended up to 31 st March, 2023.
- -Further, to simplify the patent prosecution process for the foreign and domestic companies who have filed their inventions in India, statement of  working  submitted  in  the  Form  27  has  been  simplified  whereby  a single form can be filled for related patent applications.
- -On  enforcement  front  several  initiatives  have  been  taken  to  further strengthen  the  IPR  regime  in  India.    Apart  from  creating  awareness among general public, more than hundred sensitization programs have been  carried  out  with  Police,  Customs  and  Judiciary.    DPIIT  has developed  various  resources  such  as  IPR  Enforcement  Toolkit  for Police and a booklet on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)  - 'A-Z of Intellectual  Property  Rights'.  Further  to  counter  online  piracy,  CIPAM collaborated  with  National  Internet  Exchange  of  India  (NIXI)  and Maharashtra Cyber and Digital Crime Unit (MCDCU), to suspend over 380  infringing  websites  on  the  basis  of  incomplete  KYC  (or  WHOIS norms).
- (e): Awareness in IPR: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)  through  Cell  for  IPR  Promotion  and  Management  (CIPAM)  and  in collaboration with the office of CGPDTM is regularly engaged in dissemination of  information  and  knowledge  to  IP  stakeholders  by  way  of  participation  in awareness  activities  in  IPR,  conducted  for  schools,  universities,  industries, legal and enforcement agencies and other stakeholders in collaboration with industry  Associations  in  the  country.  IPO  officials  regularly  participate  as resource  persons  in  these  programmes.  The  details  of  IPR  Awareness workshops/ seminars conducted are as under:-
- (f): In order to continuously improve & strengthen the IPR Regime in the country, Government of India has taken multiple initiatives in the last few years.  India has acceded to WIPO  Copyright Treaty and WIPO  Performers and Phonograms Treaty and Nice, Vienna and Locarno Agreements.

|   S. No. | Target Group                                                                  |   2017-2018 |   2018-2019 |   2019-2020 |   2020-2021 (till date) |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------------------|
|        1 | CIPAM - Academic Institutions (Schools, Colleges, Universities)               |          78 |         653 |         300 |                      95 |
|        2 | IP training and sensitization programs for enforcement agencies and judiciary |          13 |          19 |          42 |                      29 |
|        3 | Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME)                          |          30 |          56 |         113 |                     138 |

To clear the backlog created due to paper filing of the application and slow, tedious  examination  procedure  in  the  past,  government  has  taken  several initiatives to modernize the IP offices as well as augmenting the manpower at the office of Controller General of patent designs and trademarks.

As a result of the steps taken by India to improve its IP regime:

-  Period of examination of new Trademarks applications is reduced from 13 months in 2015-16 to less than 30 days presently. India now has among the fastest trademark examination globally.
-  Trademark is  registered  in  less  than  7  months,  if  there  are  no  office objections  or  opposition  filed,  as  compared  to  3-5  years  required earlier.
-  11.25  lakh  Trademark    Registrations  in  just  four  and  half  years (2015 to 2019) as compared to 11 lakh Registrations during 75 Years (1940-2015).
-  Patent Examination increased from 22631 in 2014-15 to 80088 by end of F.Y. 2019-20.
-  Time taken in examination of patents from an average of 72 months in 2014-15 to 12 to 26 months at present.
-  Grant  of  patents  has  increased  from  5978  in  2014-15  to  24936  in 2019-20.

However, owing to several TRIPS plus provisions and the methodology followed by IIPI, Government of India does not consider these rankings as a true indicator of its performance and does not take any specific steps to improve its ranking therein.

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