The Government proposed a wide range of reforms for start-ups at the ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’ Conference which was held on January 16, 2016. India Today has reported it here and the Start-up India Action Plan of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is available here. Pursuant to this Plan, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has now officially exempted start-ups from the compliance with nine labour laws for an initial period of three years. This move is intended to promote and incentivise the start-up industry.
The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) has yet again awarded a dismal rank to the Indian IP Regime in the 4th Global IP Index released on February 10, 2016. The Global Index, which is prepared annually by the Global IP Chamber of the USCC (GIPC), has set out a total of 30 indicators for assessing the effectiveness and strength of IP law and enforcement in 38 countries. The GIPC also released on February 5, 2016 its Special 301 Report as an evaluative precursor to its Global Index. The Special Report and the Global Index are available here and here respectively.
The Special Report purports to serve as a comprehensive guide to all the factors that make up a robust intellectual property and enforcement system. At the very outset it expresses the American apprehension towards a concerted effort across the world to change the public perception and debate on IP, often based on distorted and inaccurate claims and in contradiction to the careful balance already integrated into the system. It further observes that:
“Globally, there are increasing calls to limit how innovators are able to protect the property rights in their inventions and creations and even calls to limit the scope of what can be protected[1].”
Graphical representations of the Overall Economy Scores, as awarded in the Global Index, are reproduced herein below[2]:
Law, Life & Laughs 