The much awaited new and improved Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy was announced creating a profound buzz among policy makers and industry leaders. The improvised policy aims to stay true to its motto of “Creative India, Innovative India”. It is expected to widen the IPR outreach, speed up approvals, boost commercialization and implement norms. The policy hopes to demonstrate the Indian government’s initiative toward fostering development, and creating a roadmap for the Indian IP regime. The policy is focusing on creating an all-inclusive IP system, to draw an obvious relation to the government’s ‘Make-in-India’ campaign.
The environment surrounding intellectual property (IP) has changed significantly resulting in Intellectual Property becoming a key element of business strategy and acting as a base for the future of any organization. Original advanced technologies are the most important asset for running and continuously strengthening any business. Protecting them by securing intellectual property rights has become a vital part of an organization’s business strategy.
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“Intellectual property rights give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights to the businesses and other producers of intellectual goods and services.”
Samba Moorthy
VP & Division Head
Epson India
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Intellectual property rights give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights to the businesses and other producers of intellectual goods and services. This is achieved by granting them the rights to control the use of those technologies and properties. The fundamental need for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is to protect the innovation from being misused and replicated by unauthorized parties. It not only protects the individual, but will also safeguard the well-being of the national economy. The act of fabricating another’s work or piracy dampens the growth of a nation due to enterprises not being able to achieve their true potential in terms of revenue. The issue of counterfeiting hampers investment opportunity, in turn lowering the chance of employment and safety legislation. Protecting IPR has become much more complex than it was a few years ago.
While the main function of IPR is to safeguard the interests of innovators, it is also vital for IPR to maintain a balance of interest with society. In 2015, India ranked a dismal 29 out of 30 in the International IP Index released by the Global Intellectual Property Centre of the US Chamber of Commerce, a ranking that measures the overall IP environment in a country. A major factor behind India’s 29th position has been the poor performance of the enterprise sector.
With the new amendment in the IPR policy, the subject has garnered considerable attention from the industry and brought the spotlight back on the need for stricter IPR laws, and the need to strengthen the legal and legislative framework of IPRs. The mandate plans to incorporate tax breaks in order to foster R&D, cover risk of failure of IPRs through the creation of loan-guarantee scheme, and also promote designing and commercialisation of IP assets. The change aims to provide a fair playing ground for new and emerging players to compete and innovate. This would play a key role in driving the industry’s growth and defining players’ product and R&D strategies. This would also foster patenting relevant inventions and dealing with counterfeiting initiatives by competitors.
The level of innovation provides a great opportunity for businesses to grow. With economic globalization and the rise of competitors, many companies have realized that creating and securing IP rights will continue to generate a high level of value in the future. This will be a critical factor in maintaining their international competitiveness as well. The government’s move to streamline the IP related laws under a single department is a welcoming change, considering that this will help in streamlining the intellectual property framework in the country.
What remains critical is spreading the level of awareness and creating an atmosphere to innovate better, taking the country towards generating protectable Intellectual Property that can be exposed to commercialization.
