Promise, Progress, or Posturing? India and the Intellectual Property Chapter in the United Kingdom-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This Article presents the first in-depth and critical analysis of the intellectual property rights (IPR) Chapter in the United Kingdom-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), concluded in 2025.Negotiated across fourteen rounds over three years, the CETA's IPR Chapter represents the most ambitious IP chapter India has negotiated in any trade agreements to date.Against the backdrop of the United Kingdom's post-Brexit trade strategy and India's long-standing "policy-space-first" approach, this Article examines the IPR Chapter's design, substantive provisions, and implications for developing country IP governance.The Article advances three central contributions.First, it contextualizes the IPR Chapter within India's wider and evolving IP policy framework, particularly following the adoption of the 2016 National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, and demonstrates how India's negotiating stance continues to prioritize flexibility and development-oriented outcomes despite India's acknowledgement of its growing role as an IP-producing economy.Second, it assesses whether the IPR Chapter could
Authors: Pratyush Nath Upreti, Virender Chandel
Institution: Queen's University Belfast
Language: English
Topic: Intellectual Property Law
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7130618732
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