It is unusual for July and August to be packed with activity in the IP World in India. Things typically quiet down after the flurry of activity around World IP Day, but the Indian IP circuit has been abuzz with roundtables, workshops and conferences on the recently released National IP Policy.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has been conducting a series of roundtables for Indian businesses in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities to introduce the policy to business and understand concerns. These are mostly in partnership with both the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry as well as the Confederation of Indian Industry. There is also talk of conducting IP sensitisation roadshows in Tier 3 cities, which would be aimed at encouraging frugal innovators in rural areas to protect their intellectual property.
Yesterday, I participated in a senior Indian industry roundtable in Mumbai. Representatives from the Delhi Patent Office and Copyright Office (which is now under the Controller General’s umbrella) made elaborate presentations on how they aim to achieve the Policy’s commitments.
The industry representatives were keen to know if there was an understanding about which government agency would be responsible for each commitment. Some representatives also had concerns that there were no solid commitments to change the law (especially on patents- section 3(d), on computer related inventions, and to increase penalties for copyright piracy). They also raised issues about lack of clarity and ambiguity in some of the commitments- e.g. a commitment to “register” a trade mark within one month.
The government representatives were forthcoming and honest in their response. They assured the industry representatives that any ambiguities would be addressed subsequently by the CG Office. It was reassuring to see the interest of industry players in IP being reflected by the government.
The next session I am due to participate in is next week in Pune! Will be back with more on what they have to say!