India ranks last but one at protecting intellectual property

A recent report by the US Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) has ranked India 29th out of 30 countries surveyed in connection with the protection that it accords to intellectual property (IP). The annual survey saw 20 countries improve their rankings compared to last year, with India moving up one spot from 30 to 29.

The survey comes at a time when India is out to attract investments for its ‘Make in India’ initiative. However, the rankings indicate that it may run into problems when it comes to protection given to IP. According to GIPC, economies with higher protection have 50 percent more innovative output and they are 40 percent more likely to invest in research and development.

While the GIPC strongly advocates addressing the issues of online and physical piracy, it also wants India to renounce the use of compulsory licensing as a commercial tool, something activists in developing countries have been vociferously opposed to.