For the first time in over a decade, more Indian patents have been filed than non-Indian patents, Vinod Surana, Managing Partner and CEO of Surana & Surana International Attorneys said. “Innovation is happening in India today. There are over a dozen Indian companies in the Forbes 100 most innovative firms list, like L&T, TCS, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Bajaj Auto etc.,” he said while addressing a national conference on ‘Intellectual Property for Corporate Growth’ that was organised by Surana & Surana International Attorneys in association with Intellectual Property Bar of India Trust, supported by Hindustan Chamber of Commerce and The Tamil Chamber of Commerce.
Mr Surana pointed out that Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi region, Pune are emerging among the world’s leading innovation clusters based on parameters such as entrepreneurial culture, access to funding, strong IP protection and conducive government policy.
C. N. Shashidhara, Joint Controller of Patents and Designs, Patent Office Chennai said that e-filing of applications in patents, designs and trademarks is available on 24/7 basis and has increased to more than 90% in patents and trademarks and 75% in designs. He highlighted that many initiatives have been doled up for the startup community. “The ‘Scheme for facilitating startups intellectual property protection (SIPP)’ was launched in 2016 to encourage and facilitate IPR protection by startups and the same has been extended up to March 2023,” he said adding that professional charges of the facilitators are reimbursed by the office of CGPDTM (Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks) as per provisions under the SIPP scheme.
Lakshmidevi Somanath, Head – Intellectual Property Division at Surana & Surana International Attorneys explained about the need to file an IPR. “The first to file -Wins,” she said. “IPR gives you control to decide who can do what with your invention or creation,” she added.
