Even as India-US trade (in both goods and services) has progressed towards the $100 billion mark, 2013-14 witnessed the emergence of a number of issues which adversely impacted the climate for bilateral trade and investment. Of these, none has been more contentious than the question of India’s IPR regime for pharmaceutical products.

This handbook aims to foster a better understanding of the interlinkages between international trade, the environment and the green economy. It therefore focuses on national and international trade policy and rules, on environmental governance and principles, and the relationship between both.

The IPR Think Tank set up by the Government of India submitted its first Draft of the National IPR Policy on 19th December, 2014. The document covers an overview of India’s IP system, the vision, mission and objectives of the policy as well as the integration of IP with the Make in India and Digital India initiatives.

This publication has been developed as a handbook aimed at better understanding the intellectual property implications of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2010 Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization.