Speeches and Remarks 2006

Remarks by
Robert O. Blake, Charge D'affaires, U.S. Embassy
Indo-U.S. Seminar & Workshop
"IPR Enforcement and its Tangible Benefits"
The Grand Hotel, New Delhi April 26, 2006

As prepared for delivery

April 26, 2006

Thank you, Ramesh, for your generous introduction.  It is with great pleasure that I am here on World Intellectual Property Rights Day to help inaugurate the first ever US initiative to work directly in India with the Indian government and industry to strengthen intellectual property rights - or IPR as the experts call it.  I especially want to thank the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for all of its hard work in organizing this three week program that will move from Delhi to Mumbai to Chennai and finally on to Kolkata.  The logistical and organizational challenges were daunting and it wouldn't have happened without you.  CII has been a great partner for the United States, whether through CII's sponsorship of the Aspen Institute Strategic Dialogue, its work to promote greater corporate attention to HIV/AIDS in India, or its continuous hosting of events for visiting American delegations.  It's also great to see such good participation by senior representatives from key government ministries and private sector companies with a strong interest and role in strengthening IPR protection in India.   One of the most positive developments in recent years has been the engagement by Indian industry on IPR because Indian pharmaceutical, film, music, IT, and so many other companies themselves have a major stake in strong IPR enforcement.  Your presence here today confirms the continuing engagement by Indian industry on IPR.   
 
The importance of IPR protection in the U.S.-Indian relationship was underscored during President Bush's historic visit to India in early March.  In their joint statement, President Bush and Prime Minister Singh agreed that the United States and India will work together "to promote innovation, creativity and technological advancement by providing a vibrant intellectual property rights regime, and to cooperate in the field of intellectual property rights to include capacity building activities, human resource development, and public awareness programs."  This program is the first step in our collaborative effort to carry out this joint commitment to establish a world-class IPR regime in India.

Strong IPR protection underlies the immense potential for joint research and development between our two knowledge based economies.  In India, the services sector accounts for over half of GDP, is the principal engine driving India's robust growth, and remains a key to long-term prosperity in India for many.  Like India, services is by far the biggest sector and employer in the U.S. economy.  Strong intellectual property rights protection is one of the essential ingredients in a strong services sector.  Strong IPR protection across the board - patents, trademark, and copyright - has been a lynchpin in the success of the U.S. services sector.  Without it you don't get either the introduction of innovative products into the market or the investment in R&D to move down the path of developing strong, indigenous innovative industries that are clearly achievable for India.  Numerous studies have shown that a country's system of intellectual property protection has a substantial effect in relatively high technology industries like chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery and electrical equipment on the kinds of technology transferred to that country and the amount of direct investment in that country.  That is why we have made strong IPR protection one of our top economic priorities with all our important trading partners, including India, both in multilateral and bilateral fora.            

In this work, we consult closely with Congress on our priorities and strategies; we use domestic trade law such as Special 301; regional initiatives in Europe, Asia (APEC), Latin America (FTAA) and Africa; existing institutions, notably the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Our goal is to control piracy through strong laws and effective enforcement worldwide, and to ensure that protection remains effective as technology develops in the future. It is complex work: effective protection of inventions in the pharmaceutical area, protection of copyrighted works like software, music, and movies, and protection of the trademark reputation of our firms requires a coordinated effort involving not only trade officials but entire governments. Effective protection of intellectual property rights involves customs, courts, prosecutors and police, commitment by senior political officials at the state and national level; and a general recognition that to copy is to steal and to deprive finance ministries of revenue. But although it is complex and the work is never done, the effort, over the years, has been quite successful.

First, we work directly with countries where piracy is especially prevalent.  Among our most effective tools in this effort is the annual "Special 301" review mandated by Congress in the 1988 Trade Act.  This tool has vastly improved intellectual property standards around the world. Publication of the Special 301 list warns a country of our concerns. And it warns potential investors in that country that their intellectual property rights are not likely to be satisfactorily protected. The listing process itself has often helped win improvements in enforcement. In many cases, these actions lead to permanent improvement in the situation. At times, however, we must use the sanction authority granted to us for worst case offenders. Another bilateral tool is preferential tariff benefit treatment, such as the Generalized System of Preferences. These programs provide tariff-free treatment to certain products of beneficiary countries, subject to certain conditions, including adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights. The potential loss of these benefits has proven to be an effective motivator with some of our trading partners.

But perhaps the most important of our various tools is our ability to offer technical assistance, such as we are doing in this first ever program with India. We put considerable resources into helping other countries build capacity to implement effective IPR protection.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Copyright Office have been critical in this regard. In fact, this summer we will be getting an experienced USPTO attorney who will be our "IPR attaché" for the next several years.  His job will be to work exclusively on furthering U.S.-India cooperation on IPR.  We also work with the FBI, Department of Justice and Customs Services to provide assistance in IPR enforcement as much as possible within resource limitations.  Representatives from some of these agencies will be engaging with you in this program over the next several weeks.   We are also discussing with the Government of India how to best target the significant U.S. technical assistance we are earmarking for India this year to help build capacity in stronger IPR protection.

We also make use of regional arrangements to promote and extend protection of intellectual property.  For example, we are working with our partners in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) to advance intellectual property goals in conjunction with the group's broader agenda of market opening and trade expansion.
 
However, bilateral negotiations are and will remain central to our efforts to improve intellectual property standards worldwide. As time has passed, our trading partners - including India -- have begun to see the effect of stronger standards at home - that is, that strong intellectual property standards allow nations to develop their own high-tech and artistic industries and to attract foreign investment.  This led to a fundamental advance with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) at the creation of the WTO in 1995. This was an historic achievement: it required all WTO members to pass and enforce copyright, patent and trademark laws, and gave all countries a strong dispute settlement mechanism to protect their rights.  With India we are engaging on a regular basis on IPR through our Trade Policy Forum, Commercial Dialogue, and High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG).  This extensive bilateral engagement underscores the importance of this issue in our bilateral relationship.

U.S. companies are excited about future prospects in India, both in terms of introduction of innovative products and the potential for R&D investment and collaboration.  But there is an old saying that capital is a coward.  It has a lot of choices in the world and is less likely to go where it perceives a significant degree of uncertainty.  And uncertainty comes from the lack of strong intellectual property protection.  Innovators/investors want to have confidence that, if they bring technology, know-how and cutting edge products to a country, their intellectual property will be effectively protected.  By initiating strong patent, copyright, and trademark protection for all products produced through the "intellectual process", India will be well on the road to ensuring it is a global player in innovative technology and enjoys a world-class services sector in the 21st century.  I hope today is the beginning of a sustained collaborative effort between us to produce a world-class IPR regime in India and strengthen our rapidly growing economic relationship.

I wish you all the success over the next several weeks of discussions.

Thank you.