New Delhi : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal asked IP professionals to cultivate sensitivity in their work so that the Intellectual Property ecosystem does not disrupt good work by denying patents to those who have worked hard on their innovations and truly deserve parent protection.
He was addressing the Valedictory Session of National Intellectual Property Conference 2022 on ‘Strengthening IP Ecosystem for catalysing the growth of Knowledge Economy’ in New Delhi today.
Shri Goyal said that innovation is that one defining characteristic that had always pushed mankind forward and the key factor that would determine the fate of the country. Innovation is what will help us remain ahead of times, he added.
The Minister observed that Innovation is nothing but finding simple solutions to the day-to-day problems of life. He said that innovation is doing things better, smarter, faster, more efficiently, cost effectively and sustainably. In this context, he called upon the innovators of the nation to find low cost, high efficiency technologies to power cycle rickshaws and thus augment the income and make life much easier for those who make their living through these rickshaws.
The Minister expressed confidence that India had the potential to become number one in the Intellectual Property arena. He lauded Patent Office for truly re-orienting themselves in the last couple of years but said that further reforms were needed.
Shri Goyal stressed that the middle-men who operate on the peripherals of the patent ecosystem, promising applicants help with paperwork, are to be actively discouraged. To achieve this goal, he asked for daily, open interactions of patent offices with applicants and stakeholders through Video Conferencing. These recorded VCs should serve as forums to flag grievances and collect suggestions for improvement, he said.
Shri Goyal also emphasized that applicants must not be asked to come to offices. He asked that all processes related to application, filing and grant of patents be driven online as soon as possible. He said that the government was already in the process of modifying the law and asked stakeholders to send suggestions, which he said, would carefully be considered and objectively assessed.
The Minister called for streamlining of patent offices and processes and said that nothing should stop us from achieving timely grant of patents and trademarks. He urged that technology be used to the best possible extent and called for complete digitization of all files and creation of smarter IP Offices.
The Minister said that the government was seeking to expand number of Comptrollers and appealed to former Comptrollers and retired experts to volunteer to work for a few years to help clear backlogs and historical pendency. He also said that the government was mulling over changing rules to make sure that repeated requests for adjournments are discouraged. We have to being in high levels of transparency, integrity, efficiency and speed in our IP ecosystem, he underscored.
The Minister pointed out that in the Global Innovation Index (GII), India had made massive gains, jumping from the 81st rank in 2015 to the 40th rank in 2022. He noted that India now aspired to be among the top 10 nations in the GII and expressed confidence that collective efforts of government, academia, industry, legal fraternity and technology ecosystem will help us achieve this goal.
The Minister also presented the National IP Awards 2021 and 22 to winners for excellence in the field of Intellectual Property. He congratulated the awardees and encouraged them to continue their path-breaking work.
Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) who was also present at the valedictory function congratulated all the 800 participants who contributed to the discussions at the workshop. He paid his tributes to Shri APJ Abdul Kalam on his 91st birth anniversary, he said that the former President had inspired the youth of the country greatly.
The Secretary observed that knowledge, innovation and sustainability would be the future drivers of the economy. He pointed out that in the last 7 years, there has been a 5-fold increase in the filing of patents. There has also been a 4-fold improvement in the filing of trademarks, he added. Shri Jain also urged the Intellectual Property ecosystem to reduce pendency in grant of IP Rights..
Prof. (Dr) Unnat P. Pandit, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, Shri Hemang Jani, Secretary, Capacity Building Commission & Board Member, Karmayogi Bharat, Ms. Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary, DPIIT and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
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