USTR retains India in IP watchlist, says patents of particular concern

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has retained India in the ‘Priority Watchlist’ and said that the country remains one of the world’s ‘most challenging’ with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights, and patent issues continue to be of particular concern in India.

Six other countries such as China, Russia, Indonesia, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela continue to remain in the list.

The 14th ministerial-level meeting of the India-United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in January saw discussions on India’s efforts to modernise its patent system and exchanged ideas on other patent, copyright, and trademark issues.