India-UK Deepen IP Ties: Strategic Framework for Enhanced Bilateral Cooperation in the CETA Era

By- Khanak Himanshu Bhardwaj

INTRODUCTION

In a significant step, India and the United Kingdom have formally signed a Work Plan on Intellectual Property (IP) Rights, published on July 31, 2025. This is a landmark agreement between the world’s fourth and sixth largest economies and represents a fundamental shift in how both nations perceive Intellectual Property Rights. This agreement came just days after the UK-CETA agreement, which was officially signed on July 24, 2025, and also builds up over a preceding Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016.

The tactical importance of this agreement cannot be underestimated, as it will impact India’s future trade agreements and negotiations while also positioning it as a leader in Intellectual Property-driven economies.

CETA: The Broad Canvas for Intellectual Property Cooperation

The CETA agreement outlines commitments to enhance the cooperation and enforcement present in the realm of Intellectual Properties while simultaneously ensuring speedy registrations of patents, trademarks, etc., and also utilises Fast-Track Channels for qualifying the applicants.

The CETA agreement also introduces various sophisticated mechanisms for the protection of Intellectual Properties, such as border control measures to combat counterfeiting and piracy, which are not limited to traditional trade agreement approaches.

The agreement has also helped in the setting-up of a joint initiative for raising awareness regarding Geographical Indications (GIs), such as  Kolhapuri Sandals and Scotch Whisky etc. This focus on GIs is strategically significant as it allows India to leverage its traditional knowledge assets while the UK protects its premium brand exports—creating a win-win that avoids the contentious pharmaceutical patent disputes that plague India-US relations. India’s actions have proven to suggest a potential shift in India’s approach to pharmaceutical patents as it has successfully assented to the provisions written in a manner that stresses the need for adequate remuneration for patent holders regarding compulsory licensing (aligning with WTO’s TRIPS Article 31h). Nonetheless, India was able to exclude provisions for extensions for patent terms and exclusivity of data for pharmaceuticals, a move which aligns with India’s long-standing use of provisions like Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act, 1970, which bars patents for incremental innovations unless they showcase substantial efficacy improvements.

Moreover, CETA has influenced India to analyse and bring forth amendments in its internal Intellectual Property legislations and frameworks; notably regarding the terms of copyrights protection in India and procedural aspects of patents in India, i.e. the working requirement statement (now required once in every three years), the pre-grant opposition mechanism, and the requirement to furnish information about corresponding foreign patent applications.

The IP Work Plan: Operationalising IP cooperation

The work plan, which was signed by the two states on July 30, 2025, serves as the practical implementation and enforcement leg of the broader Intellectual Property commitments present within CETA. The primary goal of this agreement can be discerned to foster stronger bilateral trade between the two nations through periodic mutually agreed stakeholder consultations.

While the workplan has explicitly not created any legally binding obligations over the two countries, it has however, equipped them with a structured framework for practical cooperation. One of its aims is to boost the efficiency surrounding the prosecution of Intellectual Property and enhance the expertise of the examiners involved.

SYNERGIES AND ON-GOING CHALLENGES

This new Intellectual Property Work plan and CETA have demonstrated a multi-faceted approach to the relations of India and the United Kingdom in terms of Intellectual Property. However, the power dynamics reveal an important shift: unlike US pressure tactics that demand wholesale compliance, the UK approach recognizes India's development constraints and works within them.

India remains on the USTR’s Special 301 Priority Watch List for IP protection and enforcement. The USTR continues to have concerns about IP protection and enforcement practices in India for a specific set of reasons: Section 3(d) of the Patents Act, which prevents patents for incremental innovations without significant and improved efficacy; the third party pre-grant opposition system allowing a third party to challenge a patent application; compulsory licensing provisions that are being employed to infringe patent rights for the 'greater social good'; and the significant level of pharmaceutical patent rejections in comparison to other countries.

India's response has been strategically defensive: using WTO TRIPS flexibilities as legal justification, positioning itself as a developing country protecting citizen health, and diversifying bilateral IP partnerships to reduce US pressure—exactly what the UK agreement represents. This proves to be a significant challenge in maintaining the balance between the United Kingdom's push for strict Intellectual Property Protection and India's necessity for affordable medicines.

Furthermore, the absence of a clear legal framework for the enforcement of investment awards involving Intellectual Property Rights in India and the ongoing call for codification of laws related to trade secrets in India are some areas that require more attention.

The India-United Kingdom CETA and its accompanying Intellectual Property work plan can be regarded as a trial-case for how India will traverse the evolving high-standard Intellectual Property chapters in trade agreements in the future. The potential domino-effect of these agreements on India’s Intellectual Property Laws, particularly in relation to public interest commitments in healthcare, signifies the need for a proactive and precedented analysis by India.

CONCLUSION

The India-UK Intellectual Property Work Plan represents a structural shift away from normal-style bilateral agreements which would involve a market access element and a tariff reduction element. Instead of facilitating existing trade flows, it represents structured processes for knowledge flows, explicit descriptions of collaborative research platforms, and coordinated IP frameworks that will address the institutional idiosyncrasies and competitive advantages of the two economies.

Ultimately, the agreement's success will not be measured diplomatically, but by tangible outcomes: in the number of joint patents, the number of technology licensing agreements undertaken, and the number of good quality jobs created in knowledge-intensive sectors across both countries. Its success also might affect how India relates to the EU with respect to IP negotiations in the future, and possibly reconfigure its relationship with the United States by showing that collaboration gets better results than pressure.

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