Indian Government to Decriminalise 1,000 Minor Offences and Reform IP Regime

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the government plans to identify 1,000 minor offence provisions for decriminalisation within the next 45 days. He also called for stakeholder feedback on reviewing various intellectual property (IP) laws to make them simpler and more user-friendly. Depending on the input received, the government may amend current laws or introduce new ones, similar to the approach taken with the new Income Tax Bill.

The initiative seeks to create a more innovation-friendly IP framework in India while maintaining affordability and access to medicines. "We are focused on data exclusivity, but we will prevent evergreening from entering our system," Goyal told IP stakeholders, cautioning that patent evergreening could lead to expensive medicines and provoke retaliatory taxes from other countries.

Goyal referred to data exclusivity as the "final missing link" for attracting substantial R&D investment to India. He pointed out that two of the countries most critical of India's patent laws—Switzerland and the UK—have already finalized an IP chapter with India in ongoing trade talks.