Director General Pledges WIPO Support toIndia
Geneva, February 11, 1999
Press Updates UPD/1999/48
In his first official visit to India since he became Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris pledged the Organization's support to the Indian Government as well as the private sector in the process of modernizing and upgrading the country's intellectual property system and infrastructure.
During his visit from 8 and 9 February 1999, the Director General met with India's Minister of Industry, Mr. Sikander Bakht, Minister of Human Resource Development, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Minister of Finance, Mr. Yashwant Sinha and senior officials of the Government. He also addressed a meeting organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Institute of Intellectual Property Development (IIPD).
The Director General and his delegation also traveled to Hyderabad, India's upcoming high-technology city, where they met the Chief Minister, Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu and Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Rangarajan. Dr. Idris visited Hi-tech City and the Indian Institute of Information Technology. He was particularly impressed with the pace of technological developments in Hyderabad.
In Mumbai, a meeting was held with Mr. Leeladhar Dake, Minister of Industry, Government of Maharashtra and some leading personalities from the Indian film and music industry, research laboratories and officers of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks.
The Director General described his intensive and wide-ranging talks in India as "extremely constructive and fruitful". During talks with key officials and business leaders, Dr. Idris appreciated the positive developments and decisions taken by the Indian government to strengthen its intellectual property infrastructure. He praised the partnership that has developed between industry and the government in issues relating to intellectual property. The Director General emphasized the need to forge ahead with further modernization of the intellectual property systems in India. He welcomed the Government's commitment to bring the intellectual property legislation in conformity with the TRIPs Agreement.
In a meeting with Mr. Sikander Bakht, Minister of Industry, the Director General pledged to support a large project financed by the Government of India (about US$18 million) to modernize the patent office. Dr. Idris said WIPO would provide the necessary technical and legal assistance for this project. The Director General also agreed to a proposal by the Minister to co-organize a forum on policy issues relating to intellectual property for Asia and the Pacific region. The forum would be held in 1999 and would aim to become an annual event. He complemented the Minister on India's accession to the Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
During talks with the Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Minister for Human Resources Development, the Director General praised India's advanced and modern copyright law, noting that it only needed minor amendments to conform to the TRIPs agreement. He urged the Indian government to consider ratification of key treaties - the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), which are both designed to ensure protection of works in the digital age. He noted India's active role in the drafting of new protocols on audiovisual performances, protection of databases, and the rights of broadcasting organizations. They also discussed issues relating to enforcement, emphasizing the need for training and human resources development. Dr. Idris and the Minister agreed to give priority to teaching intellectual property at universities, engineering and management institutions. The Director General outlined WIPO's program to study intellectual property issues in global areas such as protection of expressions of folklore, biodiversity, traditional medicines and indiginous knowledge.
Dr. Idris and the Minister of Finance, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, discussed the desirability of a national initiative on the encouragement of inventors and promotion of innovations. The Director General said WIPO is available for any assistance the Indian government may require in this respect.
At a meeting organized by the FICCI and IIPD in New Delhi, Dr. Idris outlined the main challenges and priorities for the intellectual property community in India and on the international front while addressing an audience of some 150 people including policy-makers, government officials, attorneys, representatives of industry as well as research and development institutions. He noted that India had made positive steps in upgrading its intellectual property infrastructure. Dr. Idris appreciated that the government and private sector had developed a cooperative approach to make progress in the future. He said the main challenge for the developing world lies in the "demystification" of intellectual property and ensuring the widest dissemination about this important issue that could play a key role in promoting trade, technology transfer and investment but emphasized that a proper policy framework and appropriate infrastructure were needed to fully realize the potential benefits. He said there is a definite link between intellectual property and wealth creation. Dr. Idris said institutions needed in some cases to be strengthened and in others to be transformed. He also pointed out that intellectual property would be a key determinant in the 21st century as the world moves towards the digital age. The Director General stressed that globalization of the world economy should not mean marginalization. Globalization should mean new opportunities for developing country institutions to participate at the international level. He welcomed the beginning of cooperation in the area of intellectual property among the countries members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and said that India could play a major role in promoting this process.
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