Voicing the country’s stance in the sphere of Intellectual property Rights (IPR), Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said that India is to establish itself as a strong nation when it comes to IPR.

Speaking at the National Conference on Counterfeiting and Role of Enforcement Agencies, Abhishek said “Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is very important and their protection is very important”.

He said that we are working towards strengthening of IPR administration in the country by following the directions that prime Minister has given in order to revamp IPR administration in the country. Also the department is in the process to revamp copyright administration.

“Number of Patent applications pre-examined, it is about 3 to 4 times what it was last year”, he added.

Mentioning about the time used to be taken filing trade mark application, he said earlier it takes 13 months but now it takes less than one month and if there is no opposition, trade mark is received within 6 months.

Further he said training of staff increased and various modules have been developed to train police officers and judges on complex subject around the country.

Sharing Prime-Minister vision he said, “To enable ease of doing business there should be technology driven governance with minimum physical contract.”

Aiming at promoting, protecting and creating innovation, he said “Department has spearheaded the implementation of IPR policy in right earnest”.

Talking about the need to protect innovation, he said  that the country needs an atmosphere to protect innovation; otherwise there will be no incentive to innovation. The Department will not compromise to protect innovation and have to enforce the rule of law, he said.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, inaugurated the 2 days National Conference on Counterfeiting and Role of Enforcement Agencies.

Delivering the key-note address the Minister said that India was one among the first countries in the world to support the need for Intellectual Property Rights(IPR) especially in the pharmaceutical sector. India is fully committed to have Intellectual Property Rights in the country and towards that end the Government of India enacted the National IPR Policy 2016(NIPR Policy) This will stimulate innovation and creativity across sectors and will also provide a clear vision regarding IPR issues.

The Minister further elaborated the various initiatives of the Government and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry like awareness initiatives for citizens and business houses, strengthening of enforcement agencies, sensitization of the judiciary, simplifying and streamlining of processes for applying for patents and trademarks. (KNN/YV)