New Delhi, Jan 21 (KNN) Indian customs have been in forefront in protection of property rights by not only creating desired legislative framework but also effectively enforcing Intellectual Property (IP) laws, said M G T Valavan, Commissioner (Investigation-Customs), Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC).

He was speaking at the conference on ‘Anti-Counterfeiting, Anti-Piracy & Brand Protection’ organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in association with Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA).

IPR protection is vital factor for economic growth and by encouraging innovation and attracting investment, Customs department is committed to fight against counterfeiting and piracy, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the launch of National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai had said that ‘piracy is the insult of creativity’, said K.S Kardam, Senior Joint Controller of Patents and Designs at Indian Patent Office, Government of India.

He said “The Government of India has taken concrete steps to establish favourable environment for creation and protection of Intellectual Property Rights and strengthening IP administration in the country. The National IPR Policy was launched by the Government of India in 2016 which lays down seven objectives including Administration and Management of IPRs.”

To address the counterfeiting challenges, he said that India has very strong Intellectual Property (IP) regime with strong IP laws like piracy, trademarks and copyrights.

In last 2-3 years, time taken by IP offices for the registration of trademark has drastically been reduced from 3 years to 13 months, said Kardam.

He said “In 2016, Government of India shifted copyright office under the control of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) which has control over Copyright Office in addition to the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Offices.”

With this move, copyrights are being done within 3 months from date of filing application, he added.

Last week, we introduced uploading of copyright work though online system. We are working very hard to expedite the work. We have also introduced video conferencing facility to address the concerns related to counterfeit.

Stressing on the need to create IP education among students, he said that it should be the part of curriculum and for that one chapter on IPR has been introduced in NCERT syllabus.

Besides, various awareness program are being conducted to make people aware about the counterfeit products.

The conference was attended by senior corporate executives, brand managers, intellectual property professionals, enforcement agencies, investigation agencies, legal counsels, cyber security firms, legal and law firms etc.

Knowledge and News Network (KNN), which deliver MSME news, views and analysis both in the forms of text, graphic and video was the media partner.