"'Patent and copyright laws in India are old and backdated and they nowhere match the world standards," Lavin carped. "'Both the countries need to sit and work out a proper regulatory framework by identifying the weak areas."

India has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 1995. Intellectual property provisions of WTO require members to protect a range of IP. India changed its patent law in 2004 to better conform with the U.S.-European system, particularly with regard to chemistry and pharmaceuticals.

There was no reported response that a representative from India noted that America's patent laws were old and backdated, not citing recent Supreme Court interventions to correct flawed statutes relating to prior art obviousness, extraterritoriality, injunctive relief, and other critical issues. Nor did India mention how goofy and scattered the Supreme Court appeared in its patent rulings and during oral arguments on patent cases. India did not reciprocate by suggesting sitting down and working out a proper regulatory framework.

Lavin also pointed out the well-known chaos in infrastructure development necessary to sustain economic growth. India's governments at all levels are notorious for incompetence and corruption in this crucial area.

Lavin praised the open-skies policy allowing U.S. airlines access to India, as well as the increased ease in getting business visas. "'There has been an increase of 50 percent in granting business visas this year compared to last year. The waiting time for the same has also been reduced to a week."

The delegation in tow with Lavin includes Exxon, GE, Motorola, AT&T, Avaya, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Datacorp, and Bank of America, as well as about 20 representative of US nuclear energy corporations scouting for prospects.