India improves ranking in US Chamber's intellectual property index

A US lobby group which ranks countries on the basis of its intellectual property friendliness to innovation based global corporations has improved India's position in its current year's ranking.

The Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stated that India ranked 44th of 50 economies - a jump from 43rd of 45 economies one year ago - improving its performance both in relative and absolute terms in its annual International IP Index.

The index, released on February 8 ranks economies based on 40 unique indicators that benchmark activity critical to innovation development surrounding patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secrets protection.
"Compared with 25 percent (8.75 out of 35) of the possible total score in the fifth edition, India scored 30 percent (12.03 out of 40) in the sixth edition, representing the largest percentage improvement of any country measured", GIPC stated.

It attributed the improved performance on the Index to the revised computer related inventions (CRI) Guidelines issued in July removing the novel hardware requirement as well as initiatives to expedite injunctive-style relief and disabling of infringing content online. The report also considered India's "forward-leaning" approach "in addressing patent pendency with 459 additional patent examiners, procedural reforms to expedite trademark backlogs, and expanding the list of well-known trademarks", it said.

"For the first time, India has broken free of the bottom ten percent of economies measured, and its score represents the largest percentage improvement of any country measured. This is further evidence of a country on the move," said Patrick Kilbride, vice president of GIPC. "Several factors figure into the improved score. India passed guidelines to strengthen the patentability environment for technological innovations, improved the protection of well-known marks, and initiated IP awareness and coordination programs, thereby implementing some tenets of the 2016 National IPR Policy. However, additional, meaningful reforms are still needed to incentivize domestic innovation, attract foreign investors, and improve access to innovation", he added.

Incidentally, India had moved 30 spots up in the World Bank's Doing Business ranking recently.  Similarly, the 2017-18 World Economic Forum (WEF)'s Global Competitiveness Index, saw India's ranked at its highest ever at 40, continuing to improve compared to its emerging market peers. India also continued to rise in the 2017 Global Innovation Index (GII) rankings for the second year in succession, after four consecutive years of decline.