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The Government has taken several measures to ensure continuous improvement of the IP ecosystem in the country, says a government statement.

In this regard, the Department of Industrial Policy and Planning (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 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, with special focus on the ‘Make in India’ campaign, it said.

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.

Some of the Govt initiatives:

Modernisation of administration:  Creation of a highly transparent, e-enabled, efficient and accessible IP ecosystem in India that provides legal certainty to the industry.

Ease of access: The IP system embarked on its e-journey by introducing the complete electronic processing of Patents and Trademarks applications through specialised modules. To cater to the immense flow of the papers filed, a single central server at IPO Delhi is in place. Since India has a unique intellectual property office wherein there are 4 patent offices and 5 trademark offices, there is need for strong intra-office connectivity. The system is unique in itself since there is automatic generation of application numbers as also automatic allotment of the request for examination which is sequential and thus transparent and user-friendly.

a)     Online e-filing facilities- Comprehensive online e-filing facilities for patent and trademark application were introduced in 2013-15 which provided the stakeholder 2 major advantages. First, an applicant can file an application virtually 24×7 and secondly, applications can be filed from the comfort of their workplace/ homes.

b)    Comprehensive payment gateway-   The IPO allowed the e-filers the facility of using debit cards, credit cards and internet banking. This year, e-filers were given the facility of using debit cards, credit cards and internet banking of over 70 banks for making payment of fees for all forms.
c)    10% rebate on online filing- To encourage online filing of the applications, a 10% rebate on online filing of applications and documents has been introduced; online filing has jumped from under 30% to over 80% in just a year.

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% of total industrial production and the total contribution of MSMEs to India’s GDP is 38%. To encourage them to innovate and seek protection for their inventions, a 50 % fee reduction has been provided for MSMEs.

Madrid Protocol: The operationalisation 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.

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