i.p. news

     The Economic Times reported on 12th July 2010 that India has tightened its import norms to ensure fake product that violates design patents do not enter India even for self use, as the country looks to contribute its bit to check global piracy.
    
     The Central Board of Excise and Customs, the apex indirect taxes body, has amended a three-year old notification to tighten the norms for import of products that have intellectual property rights protection.
    
     It is understood that the new notification closes a loophole: the unintended anomaly of prohibiting import of infringing goods meant for trading only. Now even infringing goods imported for use or consumption in India will come under the prohibition. Picking up a medicine not meant for sale in India for self use would also trigger the prohibition.
    
     A penalty of up to five times the value of the goods imported can be levied on an importer under some circumstances and prosecution can also be launched under the Customs Act.
    
     Indian laws prohibited import of goods that infringed trademarks and designs only. In May 2007, the CBEC made changes to extend the protection to other intellectual property rights such as patents and copyrights. These measures went beyond the WTO requirements imposed under TRIPS and brought Indian laws on par with that of the European Union.
    
     The rules prohibited import of goods that infringed copyright, trademarks, patents, designs, and geographical indications. However, there was a lacuna in the law that it applied only to goods imported for sale in India and not the ones brought in for personal use. 
    
     The Indian industry, however, stresses that imports of counterfeits is not the big issue. For them the domestic trade in fakes poses a bigger threat to the organised local players.
    
     A report by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) lists India as the second biggest offender in terms of departure countries by seizure numbers. In 2009, the WCO report say, 949 shipments that departed from India were seized, but way behind China that had consignments confiscated in various countries. Most of these goods were headed to the European countries and Japan. According to estimates by the WCO and the OECD, approximately 7-10% of global trade is derived from counterfeit products.
    
     The WCO Customs and IPR Report 2009 said there were 13,280 reported cases involving the seizure of more than 291 million counterfeit or pirated articles. A rise in counterfeit products can especially be observed in the pharmaceuticals sector, and in transport spare parts and high-technology products sector.