US wants India to do 'a lot more' to tighten IPR regime

The US on Monday prodded India to do “a lot more” to strengthen the Intellectual Property Rights regime to help not only the foreign investors, but also domestic innovators.

“We understand that considerable progress has been made (in strengthening the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime, but a lot more still needs to happen,” the US envoy to India, Richard Verma, said.

“After all, intellectual property is the fuel that powers the engine of prosperity, fostering invention and innovation,” he said, ahead of the India-US strategic and commercial dialogue.

The US has been nudging India for years to strengthen the IPR regime. Though the American government and the industry welcomed the new IPR policy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government came out with in May, the remark of US ambassador to India on Monday indicated that Washington DC wanted New Delhi to do more.