The pirate busters: India’s new IP crime fighters

21-09-2016

The pirate busters: India’s new IP crime fighters

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The Telangana Intellectual Property Crime Unit has been launched in India with the aim of tackling online piracy in the state. But can the unit emulate successes seen in countries such as the UK? WIPR investigates.

A menace is a person or thing that is likely to cause harm, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and in the 21st century, this “menace” for some intellectual property owners is online piracy. It has become the norm to read stories of films being leaked illegally online before their official release in cinemas. This is a problem which is particularly true in India, whose rich film industry is lauded worldwide.

On June 24, 2016 US ambassador to India, Richard Verma, and Indian IT minister Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao announced the launch of the Telangana Intellectual Property Crime Unit (TIPCU), the first state-level IP enforcement agency in India. Telangana is one of India’s 29 states.

Verma said: “I congratulate the government of Telangana, the Telangana police, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry for their leadership supporting this great initiative. Hyderabad [the capital city of Telangana] has long been an intellectual property rights leader.”


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WIPR