Govt Keen to Protect MSMEs' IP Rights And Monetise Innovations: Joint Secretary, DPIIT

Mr Rajendra Ratnoo, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), and Controller General of Patent, Designs and Trademarks, GoI, said that the growth of the Indian economy is dependent on the MSME sector, and the government has been taking all necessary measures to spread awareness on the significance of intellectual property rights in protecting and monetizing their creative inventions.

Addressing webinar on ‘From Minds to Market: IP Exploitation by MSMEs’, organized by FICCI, to commemorate the World Intellectual Property Day 2021, Mr Ratnoo stressed on the need for Indian SMEs to increasingly protect their innovative products.

Mr G R Raghavendra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, emphasized that India’s thriving creative industry must become increasingly aware of the Copyright law provisions like economic and moral rights, ownership and royalty provisions, the legal remedies, enabling them to benefit by monetization and distribution of their creative works. He also released a handbook ‘COPYRIGHT 101’ on the occasion, developed by FICCI in association with Creative First and IPRMENTLAW, observing that it would be a useful guidebook for creators and content producers in the media and entertainment industry.

 Mr Narendra Sabharwal, Chairman, FICCI IPR Committee & Former Deputy Director-General, WIPO, said that globally small and medium enterprises have been the driving force behind many innovations. Successful SMEs have been able to reinforce an idea to create a product that consumers wanted, utilized IP rights to protect it and create value for their business. Underlining the inherent innovative abilities of India’s small and medium businesses, he emphasized that MSMEs must be encouraged and supported to increasingly adapt IP in business operations, especially considering the emerging technological developments.

The webinar was attended by over 150 delegates, including senior policymakers, administrators, IP experts from the industry and the legal fraternity who deliberated on subjects ranging from the need for an increasingly robust IP ecosystem for India to become a knowledge economy, the key role of IP for the growth and success of MSMEs, and the avenues available IPR commercialization, among others.