IP Connect

India: Government offers local office to UN Intellectual Property Organization

India has formally requested the UN agency World Intellectual Property Organisation (hereinafter referred to as the ‘WIPO’) to open an office in the country and is ready to offer premises free of cost for this purpose, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

India’s offer was conveyed by Sitharaman to WIPO Director General Francis Gurrey at a meeting here, an Indian commerce ministry statement said. The said statement can be found over here. WIPO, one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations, promotes intellectual property (IP) throughout the world, and administers various multilateral treaties.

At the event, Sitharaman announced that a team would be set up to advice on how to further improve India’s ranking in the global index of countries in the sphere of innovations. India’s GII ranking has improved dramatically to 66, from 81 last year.

Earlier on Friday, August 19, 2016, Sitharaman and Gurrey attended an event to launch the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2016.

In his address, Gurrey lauded India’s efforts in innovation, particularly being a vast and diverse country, pointing out that the top ranked countries are mostly small, compact economies with much lesser complexities and issues.