US and India sign agreements on Intellectual Property Rights

India and United States on Monday signed two inter-governmental agreements on Intellectual Property Rights to help prevent misappropriation of traditional knowledge through mistaken issuance of patents as had earlier happened with neem and haldi.

A Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) Access Agreement signed between the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The agreement will enable the USPTO to search the extensive database of India's traditional knowledge compiled under TKDL.

CSIR would provide training to the USPTO examiners and staff to help them use TKDL tools for search and examination.

This would help prevent misappropriation of traditional knowledge through mistaken issuance of patents.

Another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, Department of Industrial Policy andIndia's Commerce Ministry.

The MoU between patent offices of the two countries would facilitate comprehensive bilateral cooperation on a range of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) issues focusing on capacity building, human resource development and raising public awareness of the importance of IPR.

A Memorandum of Intent was also signed to promote two-way investments between 'Invest in America' of the US Department of Commerce and 'Invest India', a joint venture between the Indian government and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the promotion of investment in the US and India.