Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Jan 25, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Jan 25, 2002 |
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Industry & Economy
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IPR `India needs IPR courts' M. Somasekhar
HYDERABAD, Jan. 24 INDIA needs to set up exclusive judicial courts to deal with intellectual property rights (IPR) issues, which are on the rise, noted legal expert and Patents Judge, Mr Michael Fysh, has said. Stating that India has moved from the developing to a developed country status as far as IPR is concerned, Mr Fysh advocated that these courts should have at least two assigned judges who have experience in practice of IPR work and also a science degree. The IP Court should not be a tribunal as in the case of environment, consumer or labour because of the nature of the issues involved. The life of a patent is around 14 years and that of trademarks and designs is 15 in the Indian context, therefore protracted litigation does not help, Mr Fysh, currently Judge, Patents County Court in London, told Business Line. To be assisted by independent assessors, qualified in science, the IP courts could deal with patents, designs, trademarks, copyrights and breach of confidential information among other issues, he said. The British legal expert, who is the last of his countrymen to be a member of the Bar in India, represents foreign and Indian companies in cases in the country and the Sub-continent through his juniors. Mr Fysh expressed scepticism about the efficacy of police courts, which seek to control copyright, piracy and counterfeit cases. "They can be a deterrent, but not very effective, since the police are not IP lawyers," he argued. The police, customs and the judiciary should play a proactive role in curbing the menace of piracy that is threatening to kill the culture industry in the country, said Mr Shahid AliKhan, former Deputy Director-General, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). He concurred with Mr Fysh that India needed an IP court like the ones in Thailand, Korea, Germany, UK or the US. A lack of such quick, justice-oriented courts, would mean "we will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, as far as the culture industry, which accounts for 5.06 per cent of the GNP," Mr Khan said. Both the IPR experts were participating in a two-day International seminar on "New Dimensions of IPR in the changing scenario" organised by the Patent Facilitating Centre (PFC) of the Technology, Information, Forecasting Assessment Council (TIFAC). Leading IP practitioners from the patent offices of the US, European Union and several patent attorneys would make presentations, according to Mr R. Saha of the PFC.
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