"CII felicitates Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Reliance Industries Limited, Bilcare, and grassroot innovator on World Intellectual Property Day"
While India is committed to and is progressing towards building strong and vibrant Intellectual property regime, it will strike a balance between intellectual property and public good. Though the culture of intellectual property protection is new to India, we have forged ahead with legislations and policy setups which qualify to be world class! said Mr. T Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
He was speaking at the occasion of World Intellectual Property Day organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The event showcased India’s initiatives and achievements in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and sought to recognize and reward individuals and organizations from across the country for their contribution towards harnessing the intellectual capital of country in the fields of patents, trademarks and design.
CII felicitated Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) for having obtained 311 patents grant by Indian Patent Office; Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for 816 trademark registrations; and Bilcare India for 445 design registrations in 2007-08. Mr. Venkat Reddy, farmer from Alwal, Andhra Pradesh was also felicitated as an outstanding grassroot innovator from Andhra Pradesh Technology Development and Promotion Centre’s (APTDC). He has protected his invention of soil enrichment in 75 countries and received patent grants in Europe, Eurasia, South Africa and Madagascar.
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Delhi High Court, highlighted the issues of lack of awareness of intellectual property rights. He said that India is beginning to see a stronger IP enforcement regime. Besides the generic field of Intellectual property, the IPR policy framework should also focus on sound-marks and smell-marks under Trademarks. The vast pool of India’s traditional knowledge like Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy, Yoga etc should also be taken care of. He called for statutory codified laws to maintain trade secrets, which should not create monopoly and the larger societal good should be maintained. He shared a few landmark judgments and speedy redressal of IP cases by Indian judiciary
Mr. N N Prasad, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, strongly opined that India’s Intellectual Property Regime is evolving to greater heights. He referred to section 3d of the Patents Act with a particular mention of India’s pharmaceutical sector and said that India will never allow frivolous patents to be protected in this country. At the same time the government of India will not compromise on the health issues and concerns of Indian citizens. He further stated that a lot needs to be done in IP, the last 5-6 years saw government spent of Rs 500 crore in development of hard and soft infrastructure. While this modernization program will continue, approval of 1380 patents examiners post have been sanctioned out of which 414 will be filled up this year. India, the only English speaking Asia-Pacific country having conferred with the status of International Search Authority (ISA) and International Patent Preliminary Examination Authority (IPA). This proves India’s growing presence in global IP regime.
Mr. J M Khanna, Ex-Director, Jubiliant Organosys Ltd, pointed out that reforms in intellectual property will continue, and the challenge is to get people to innovate and invent. He said that CII is playing a very significant role in developing leadership, linking innovation to societal needs, and defining India’s vision on IPRs. Indian Industry is poised to leverage the scientific and technological talent pool to come out with a cutting edge solution in the area of drug discovery. This will make a mark for India in the global arena of pharma and healthcare.
In his Welcome Address, Mr Ramesh Adige, Chairman, CII Task Force on IP Policy, and President, Corporate Affairs and Global Corporate Communication, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., drew attention to the importance of the celebrations and gave a snapshot of CII’s activities in drawing attention to IP issues in the country.
Delivering the vote of thanks, Mr. R Saha, Member CII National Committee of IP Owners, said that the intellectual property system in India is vibrant with active public and private participation. It is time for Indian IP regime to take off to a greater heights!
World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated annually on 26 April by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and its Member States. The purpose of these celebrations is to increase public understanding of what intellectual property (IP) really means, and to demonstrate how the IP system fosters the world around us, ranging from arts and entertainment to technological innovations that shape our lives.
