Book Talk: Intellectual Property Debates in South Asia: Law, Development and Practice

edited by Pratyush Nath Upreti (Hart Publishing, 2025)

About Book

Asian intellectual property (IP) practice has been the subject of studies for many years. Yet a noticeable gap persists in the academic literature, particularly in regions beyond Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia. Much of the discourse on IP in Asia has been dominated by developments in Southeast Asia, primarily due to the region’s strong economic integration through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its active participation in global trade and economic activities. Meanwhile, countries in Central Asia have only recently shown interest in IP policy reforms. 

This focus raises the question: Why a book on intellectual property in South Asia? The answer is straightforward – despite their historical, cultural, and economic significance, IP developments in South Asia have remained underexplored and have not received mainstream scholarly attention for several decades. For that reason, the heart of this book lies in highlighting South Asian IP regimes by exploring the diverse IP narratives emerging from the region, including those of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. These narratives focus on the legal values and ethos embedded in domestic IP practices while promoting comparative studies at regional and international levels. 

In this context, the book aims to answer the following research questions: How do historical and socio-economic factors influence the development of IP frameworks across South Asia, and to what extent do these diverse national approaches reflect regional values, address social justice concerns, and balance global obligations with local development priorities? To answer these questions, the book adopts a case study approach, engaging with various South Asian countries to examine the challenges in addressing issues. 

In short, this book is the first comprehensive effort to consolidate the IP practices and narratives of South Asian countries within a single edited volume. By doing so, it moves beyond conventional IP analysis, adopting an interdisciplinary approach that engages with broader historical, cultural, and socio-economic contexts. Each contribution focuses on innovative IP practices and emerging challenges in South Asia and will serve as a stepping stone for further discussion among scholars, policy makers, and other stakeholders involved in shaping and improving IP law.