The US on Thursday raised concerns on India’s Personal Data Protection Bill and draft Non-Personal Data Governance Framework claiming that these could potentially threaten innovation and economic growth.
In its latest Special 301 Report, the US Trade Representative (USTR) has kept India in the priority watch list maintaining that India remains one of the world’s most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property.
“In December 2021, a Joint Parliamentary Committee released a report recommending changes to the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (PDPB) that could undermine important IP protections in India. Among these recommendations was enlargement of the Bill’s scope to include further regulation of non-personal data instead of addressing that issue under separate legislation. The United States on several occasions and in various fora has raised IP concerns regarding the potential implementation of India’s data governance regime. These concerns are particularly acute given India’s outdated and insufficient legal framework for protecting trade secrets. On this and other potential legislation affecting IP, the United States encourages India to undertake a transparent process that provides stakeholders with sufficient opportunity to comment,” it added.
The report said while India made meaningful progress to promote IP protection and enforcement in some areas over the past year, it failed to resolve recent and long-standing challenges, and it created new concerns for right holders. “The United States is monitoring India’s next steps, including any actions taken following DPIIT’s October 2020 solicitation of public comments on amending the Indian Copyright Act. The 2019 Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill containing promising provisions to criminalize unauthorized camcording of films continues to await Parliament’s approval. However, in June 2021, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting sought public comments on a proposed Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which incorporates revisions to the 2019 Bill. The United States is monitoring this proposed bill,” it added.
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