India May Drag U.S. To WTO In Case Of Unilateral IPR Action

NEW DELHI: India will drag the U.S.  to the WTO if Washington decides to put New Delhi in the Priority Foreign Country list for intellectual property rights (IPR), which could lead to trade curbs on domestic firms, sources said.

This was decided at a high-level meeting called by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth to discuss problems related to IPR issues with the U.S., especially in the pharmaceutical sector.

"Indian IPR laws are fully compliant with WTO and other international norms. Any unilateral action taken by the U.S. will be violative of WTO and India will suitably respond by dragging the U.S. to WTO's dispute resolution mechanism," said sources.

U.S. industry, particularly the pharmaceuticals sector, and trade lobbies have been putting pressure on their government to place India under the Priority Foreign Country list for IPR.

Under the U.S. Trade Act, a Priority Foreign Country is the worst classification given to those that deny adequate and effective protection of IPR or fair and equitable market access to U.S. entities relying on IPR protection.

The U.S. Trade Representative is scheduled to come out with a report on April 30 on Special 301, which also talks about the priority foreign country list.

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