First Draft Of India’s National IPR Policy: Encouraging Indigenous Innovation

Faced with the constant scrutiny of its Patent laws, Indian Government decided that it was time to move beyond the rhetoric surrounding the patentability thresholds for pharmaceutical innovations and have a comprehensive IP Policy in consonance with India's national priorities and development needs. Accordingly, an IPR think tank under the leadership of erstwhile IPAB Chairman Justice Prabha Srideven was constituted with the mandate of drafting National Intellectual Property Rights Policy. Interestingly, the constitution of the think tank coincided with the formation of joint Indo –US Working Group on IPR and was mostly seen as the by-product of the US pressure. Also, the surreptitious manner in which the members of the think tank were chosen, with almost no information in the public domain regarding the basis of selection, did not go down too well with the stakeholders. While the criticism and concerns poured in, the six member think tank submitted the first draft of