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July 25, 2021

Summary: ‘The UNESCO Science Report, 2021: The Race Against Time for Smarter Development (UNESCO), Chapter on India’ by Mani, S.

Author: Intern - Gazal Sancheti

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has published the seventh edition of its quinquennial UNESCO Science Report on June 11, 2021, titled ‘The race against time for smarter development’. The Report analyses steps taken by various countries to promote scientific development and innovation, and the results thereof, over the period of five years from its previous 2015 edition. It has a dedicated Chapter on India, authored by Professor Sunil Mani, Director and Professor of the RBI Chair at the Centre for Development Studies in Trivandrum, Kerala.

The said Chapter on India, while discussing India’s technological response to Covid-19, mentions international rules pertaining to intellectual property rights as a key impediment. It states that India needs to address and change these rules in order to facilitate the development of technologies domestically.

Taking a look at the trends in innovation in India, the Chapter highlights increased investment in intellectual property as a key trend fostering the country’s economic growth. It traces the investment in intellectual property products as a share of India’s Gross Domestic Product [GDP] and Gross Fixed Capital Formation [GFCF] from 2012 to 2017. The same has witnessed an increase over the years with 13.6% of the GFCF and 3.9% of the GDP being invested in 2017, as compared to 8.6% and 2.9%, respectively, in 2012. This investment is done majorly at the level of firms, but it has a positive spillover effect into other companies in the same industry. Thereby, leading to an increase in productivity and promoting economic growth.

Further, the Paper draws attention to the fact that trade in intellectual property products has also increased, but most of it comes from software services. If trade in software services is excluded, India has a trade deficit with respect to the trade in intellectual property products. This trade deficit is concentrated in the areas of royalties and license fees for the use of trademarks, franchises and similar rights, and other royalties comprising the license fee for patents.

According to the Chapter, the National Intellectual Property Policy developed by India in 2016 does not introduce any fundamental shift in the policies the country has been following under the TRIPS since 2005. The Chapter mentions that the lack of requirements for the domestic use of intellectual property created from research and development financed via tax concessions is noteworthy as well, considering the subsidies and concessions granted by the Government for research and development has increased over the years.  

Disclaimer: Views, opinions, interpretations are solely those of the author, not of the firm (ALG India Law Offices LLP) nor reflective thereof. Author submissions are not checked for plagiarism or any other aspect before being posted.

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