India ranks 43rd out of 45 nations in 2017 International Intellectual Property Index

India ranked low 43rd among the surveyed 45 nations in 2017 International Intellectual Property Index (IIPI). In this edition, India is just above Pakistan (44th) and Venezuela (45th).
The fifth annual index was released by US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Centre (GIPC) in its report titled ‘The Roots of Innovation’.

Key Facts

• This year the index includes 90% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and seven new economies Egypt, Hungary, Kenya, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Spain were included.
• India scored a meagre 8.75 out of a total of 35 points, falling significantly behind the median score of 15.39. Besides, the average score of India’s regional neighbours was 17.64.
• This is for fifth consecutive year India has been ranked at the near bottom in the index. Last year, India was placed 37 out of 38 countries. India was ranked last or next-to-last in the previous four years.
• Top 5 Countries in 2017 IIPI: United States (1st), United Kingdom (2nd), Germany (3rd), Japan (4th), Sweden (5th), France (6th), Switzerland (7th), Singapore (8th), South Korea (9th) and Italy (10th).
• BRICS countries: China (27th), South Africa (33rd), Brazil (32nd) and Russia (23rd).
• This year India has made some increment, but still has to do a lot more to build up a positive impression of its IPR policy with adequate legislative reforms required by innovators.
• There was slight improvement in India’s overall scores in this edition mainly because of the inclusion of five new indicators in the index on which India performed very strong.

About International Intellectual Property Index (IIPI)

The index started in 2012 by USGIPC ranks countries based upon 35 parameters each having one point weightage. Some of the parameters are patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and market access, enforcement, and ratification of international treaties.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2017