World IP Day | Why a robust IP ecosystem vital for progress of a nation

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Intellectual property rights (IPR) is an important driver for innovation and growth. From global health to addressing the issues of climate change, intellectual property is an important element in policy making. Therefore, maintaining a robust intellectual property ecosystem that fuses innovation and creativity is imperative for a better and sustainable world. However, it is always a challenge for countries, especially the countries with poor resources and a low income population.    

World Intellectual Property Day, observed on April 26 every year as a reminder of the effects that intellectual property has on the social and economic progress,  has this time chosen the theme — IP and the SDGs: Building our common future with innovation and creativity. 

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) still have a lot to attain and are lagging behind in targets. The countries must collaborate to make the goals attainable and for this there is a need to harness the innovation and creative potential while making intellectual property an important area of all developments.

IP creation will naturally foster innovation, develop new technologies and build better concepts. These will collectively help in addressing global challenges like climate change and tackling health issues.  Innovators across the world are using IPR to translate their innovations into assets that can have a positive social and  economic benefit for the people.

Intellectual property refers to any kind of creation and creativity like an invention, artistic and literary work, names, images and designs. And, the intellectual property rights are being protected in the form of patents, trademarks, copy rights and geographical indications.    

IP and SDG

According to a recent report of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the intersection of IP and the SDGs offers a unique lens and help track innovation aligned with the SDGs across diverse technology landscapes. It provides a quantifiable measure of the intellectual capital being invested in each goal, offering a tangible representation of the commitment to sustainable development within the global innovation landscape.

The report tracks how patents contribute to progressing towards and achieving the SDGs revealing the latest patent trends. It shows the pivotal role of IP in steering development towards sustainability and can be used to empower the decision makers, policy makers and innovators to foster collaborations. WIPO’s Global Challenges program seeks to raise awareness and understanding of the complex linkages between global health and access to medical technologies, innovation, technology transfer and trade. The goal is to leverage intellectual property (IP) as a tool that contributes to meeting the world’s most pressing health needs.

Patent data offers a powerful lens into the state of technological development because groundbreaking innovations are typically disclosed through the patenting process.  Sagacious IP, an organisation that helps to provide IP solutions to global companies and expand their IP portfolios, has highlighted the need to analyse patent portfolios for identifying how they can serve as a leading indicator of a company’s commitment to sustainable practices. 

In 2020, Sagacious IP embarked on an extensive green patent landscape study to identify the leading innovators driving the transition to a greener future through their patenting activities. The resulting GREEN100® report, first published in 2021 and updated in 2023, spotlights companies generating high-quality “green” patents focused on mitigating climate change. An analysis of the green patent portfolios reveal that organisations from five key industries are having an outsized impact —transportation, motor vehicles & parts, energy and power, information and communication technology, industrial machinery and renewables.

India needs a better IP ecosystem 

Intellectual property (IP) filings in India have surged significantly in recent years. In a statistics released by WIPO in 2022, India ranked fifth in terms of the number of trademark applications filed annually and sixth in the world for patent filings.

According to the 12th edition of the International IP Index released by the US Chamber of Commerce in February,  2024,  India ranked at 42 out of the 55 countries in the index with an overall score of 38.64%. The United States emerged at the top of the list followed by the United Kingdom and France respectively.

The report highlighted concerns over India’s IP regime, pointing out the dissolution of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board in 2021, and a judiciary that lacks adequate resources. While acknowledging certain IP strengths such as the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2023, the report urged leading economies like the USA and EU to reaffirm their IP policy leadership.

The report also affirmed that multilateral organisations can reaffirm global IP commitment instead of tolerating counterproductive measures like IP waivers.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow