Tuesday, December 13, 2011

US type IPR framework for India-absurd and utopian

If I'd a rupee for everytime I saw an IPR reform proposal referencing USA, I'd be a rich man! Besides those who see USA as a panacea for every Indian ailment(despite its creaking education/healthcare/fiscal issues), even absolutely rational people point to USA, correlate its global power status to its innovative nature(so far logically plausible) and then make the logical leap of faith to connect it to its IPR. Now,trying to match the same format is absurd in India because of the factors outlined below. For the record, by US type IPR framework, I refer to a system friendly to the inventor rather than public interest; where fast track courts settle disputes; where IPR violations are stringently punished even at consumer level by fines/barring ISP connections and where an entire ecosystem(patent trolls, lawyers etc) extract rent from the system.

  1. IPR protection not embedded in Constitution:-Patent Protection is a constitutional right in USA, while the Indian Constitution does not even guarantee right to property!
  2. Traditional Knowledge and Different culture:The traditional Western model of IP does not sufficiently protect traditional knowledge, and presumes that people need only a monetary incentive to invent. Prof Anil Gupta's work at the National Innovation Foundation, proves that that is not the case.  
  3. We are still net importers.:-India does import IP whether it be directly(royalty payments by Maruti to Suzuki for example) or indirectly(mobile manufacturers paying Qualcomm etc ). And of software, I'm hardpressed to name a single Indian produced software 
  4. And countries grew rich by not paying for IP:-Be it USA(for books), UK(for machinery), South Korea/China(for technologies), even countries topping the innovation charts have stolen their share of IPR. Is India in a position to pay for IP? In a land where good foreign published books can cost a week's average income, is it fair to penalize students for piracy? 
  5. Our legal system would crack:-Intellectual property being a legal right, its ownership.validity can ultimately be decided only in court. And IPR being subject to fast erosion of value if subjudice, not having fast track courts/speedy justice does defeat the purpose. And it is a matter of public policy to decide whether IPR law should get priority over a host of other laws when it comes to justice enforcement. When not even TRIPS requires this, I doubt this will happen anytime soon in India. After all, setting up new fast track tribunals for law/tax cases has been hanging fire. 
I know the above arguments have some logical fallacies(like #4 has the fallacy that two wrongs make a right), but I feel it is not in India's interest to accord that same level of IP protection. If I was a content creator, I would use cloud computing etc to protect my rights via technology, instead of lobbying for changes that overall affect the country. So which kind of a system would I prefer? Something on the lines of utility patents(cheap, simply, for proven useful IPR). I'll do a follow up on this after more research on the subject

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