Intellectual Property Initiatives to Drive 'Make in India'

Several measures have been taken to ensure continuous and unending improvement of the Indian IP ecosystem in the country. To this effect, Department of Industrial Policy and Planning (DIPP) has formulated a multi pronged strategy to develop an Intellectual Property regime in the country to promote creativity and to develop the culture of respect for innovations and creativity.

During the year, the Intellectual Property Office has been radically transformed through numerous initiatives that have contributed tremendously to easing of access to the IP system, efficiency in processing of IP applications, uniformity and consistency in the examination of applications, transparency and dissemination of IP information, bilateral cooperation at the international level, and raising the awareness level of the public, Ministry of Commerce today said in a release.

Several measures have been taken to create a strong and vibrant IP regime in India.

The key measure taken up are as follows:

Modernization of Administration:  Creation of a highly transparent, e-enabled, efficient and accessible IP ecosystem in India that provides legal certainty to the industry in terms of Human Resources; Ease of access under which there are facilities like - Online e-filing facilities, Comprehensive payment gateway, and 10 per cent rebate on online filing.

Transparency and Dissemination of Information: The official website provides vast information relating to patents, trademarks, designs and geographical indications. The real time status of IP applications with entire file wrappers and e-registers is now open to the public, providing a strong tool to the public that can now be an integral part of the IP system. An innovative tool, showing the stock and flow of patents and trademarks applications at every stage of its processing, has ushered in transparency.

Fee Concession for MSME: MSMEs account for 45 per cent of total industrial production and the total contribution of MSMEs to India’s GDP is 38 per cent. To encourage them to innovate and seek protection for their inventions, a 50 per cent fee reduction has been provided for MSMEs.

Madrid Protocol: The operationalization of the Madrid protocol for international protection of trademarks provides the user the facility of protecting his trademark in 90 countries by filing a single application in one language with one set of fees filed at the Trademarks Registry. Till June 2015, 13,666 international applications designating India have been received at the Trademarks Registry, India.

International Search Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority: India has been recognised by the World Intellectual Property Organization as the 17th International Search Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority in the world. It began its operations in 2014 and till date, 758 international applications have been received and 575 reports issued. India prides itself on providing quality reports at the lowest cost among the international players like USPTO, EPO, JPO etc.  At present it has been recognised as ISA/ IPEA for nationals of Republic of Iran.

IPR Awareness Programmes: Awareness creation is one of the major planks of the modernization scheme of IP system, as this will educate the stakeholders about the benefits of registration of their rights as also educate the general public, particularly the business community, on perils of infringement of IPRs held by others/ dealing in pirated and counterfeit products. These programmes are also expected to sensitise the enforcement agencies such as state police forces, and the judiciary.