India’s Ranking in GIPC Index 2015

GIPC Index-(Global Intellectual Property Centre) Index 2015- Unlimited Potential has ranked India second last among 30 world economies which make up for 80% of world’s GDP. The Index is based on 30 indicators, which can effectively measure the IP-health of an economy and help policy-makers to gauge the same.

The GIPC Index-2015

• It has drawn some path-breaking correlations between varied factors suggesting how each one them support a knowledge-intensive environment. These are Strong IP and High expenditure on R&D, High job growth and FDI.
• 5 new economies have been added- Germany, Peru, South Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan.
• The scores of 20 nations showed an improvement signalling an increased awareness about the importance of robust IPR and strong economies.
• US has topped the index with a score of 28.53, while Thailand has hit the rock-bottom with a score of 7.1.
• Thailand, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Argentina, Nigeria, Brazil and Ukraine have been put in the low-tier bracket.
• The vital criteria considered in the index include-patent, copyright, trademark protection, enforcement and subsequent engagement in international treaties.

India’ performance

India has shown marginal improvement in its score as it moved one slot up to 29^th rank. GIPC has attributed this shift to the Modi government’s decision to revise the existing PMA (Preferential Market Access) Policy which seeks to reduce dependence on domestic manufacturers by private sector. In addition, the new IPR policy draft pushed by the Government which has sufficiently realised the importance of IP and innovation. Also, the formation of a high-level working group being a part of the Trade Policy Forum has huge potential to bring sustainable changes to existing IPR-regime in India. India’s current score is 7.23. India has been placed in Lower Middle Income economies along with Indonesia, Nigeria, Ukraine and Vietnam.

Key areas which need improvement are

1. Patent requirements are outside the ambit of international best practices
2. RDP and Patent term Restoration absent

India has a past of compulsory licensing for commercial and non-emergent situations.

1. Limited regulatory framework for addressing online piracy and circumvention devices.
2. Exceedingly high levels of piracy on entertainment products like softwares, music etc.
3. Poor enforcement of civil remedies and criminal penalties
4. Lack of IPR in life-science sector.
5. Not a party to any major international IP-related Treaty.