BSE to patent Sensex in India

You may have to pay for using the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex or other indices for launching any product or scheme based on it, as Asia's oldest stock exchange is increasingly becoming protective about its brands.

The exchange is getting patents for all its brands like the Sensex and even the BSE logo.

"The BSE has applied to the controller of patents, designs and trademarks for getting around 40 patents," said Rajnikant Patel, MD and CEO of Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd.

The Sensex is considered the benchmark for Indian financial markets and the barometer of the economy in general, not only by Indians but also by foreign investors. The BSE has already patented Sensex and its logo BSE in the US.

It will take a few quarters before the patents are granted due to the procedural formalities. The BSE has many plans to leverage the brand value of its index and hence wants to protect its brands, website and logos from copyright infringement.

The BSE was also planning to go in for valuation of its brands, said Patel. "We know the Sensex is a very strong brand but no valuation has been done yet. We are waiting for some more clarity on this," he added.

The National Stock Exchange has already patented Nifty in the name of S&P CNX Nifty. Benchmark Assets Management company has already launched an index fund based on Nifty.

Patents will mean nobody can use the names without the BSE's permission and it will be able to charge a fee or royalty for such usage.

The Sensex-based Exchange Traded Fund was recently launched in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by Barclays and it has generated a reasonably good response.

The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission recently gave permission to the BSE and the NSE to start or allow futures or indices-based products to be launched in US exchanges.

The success of the Sensex-based Exchange Traded Fund in Hong Kong means the next target for the Sensex will be the US market but before that the BSE is concentrating on developing derivative trading in Sensex as well.