U.S. and India Sign Historic Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation on Intellectual Property Offices to promote innovation, creativity and technological advancement
The Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that Jon Dudas, under secretary of commerce for intellectual property, and Ajay Dua, secretary of the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry (IMCI), recently signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Bilateral Cooperation between the United States and India on intellectual property issues.
"This MOU is a first between the United States and India on intellectual property issues, and it will open the door for an unprecedented level of cooperation and sharing of best practices," said Under Secretary Dudas.
"The MOU advances the objective established by President Bush and Prime Minister Singh in March for the United States and India to work together to promote innovation, creativity and technological advancement by providing a vibrant intellectual property rights regime," added Dudas.
Under the terms of the MOU, which builds upon the work of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum and other successful bilateral meetings between the United States and India, the USPTO and the IMCI's Office of the Controller General will cooperate on capacity building, human resource development and public awareness of intellectual property. Among the activities designed to strengthen the work of both offices, the USPTO will help train Indian patent and trademark examiners, develop education material for the examiners and produce a manual on patent practice for use by Indian examiners and the public. This work will be carried forward with action plans that will establish specific areas for cooperation over a renewable two-year period of time.
