IIT Bombay, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Samsung R&D Institute India – Bangalore Pvt. Ltd., Aditya Birla Retail Limited, Larsen & Toubro (Electrical & Automation), Textiles Committee were among winners of National Intellectual Property Awards for 2015. IIT Bombay won the awards for the top India Academic Institution for Patents, best commercialization of patent(s) based in India and the WIPO Users trophy. The award for top R&D institution/organization for patents was won by DRDO. Samsung R&D Institute India – Bangalore Pvt. Ltd. was felicitated with the award for Top Indian Public Limited Company/Private Limited Company/Indian subsidiary of a transational corporation for Patents as well as the WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy. The awards for top organization in Trademarks and Designs were won by Aditya Birla Retail Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro (Electrical & Automation) respectively. Mumbai based Textiles Committee, Ministry of Textiles,  won the award for best facilitation of registration of Geographical Indication (GI) and promotion of registered GI in the country. 

In the individual category the Patent award was won by Mr. Valagam Rajagopal Raghunathan who is an engineer from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore having expertise in the field of wind energy. He was also honoured with the WIPO medal for inventors. Prof. Binay Kumar was conferred with the IPO Motivational Award. The IPO Special Mention Award was won by Pune based Prof. Ganesh Hingmire and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. 

Constituted jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Patents Office (IPO), the National Intellectual Property Awards are given every year since 2009 recognising the use of IPRs as a strategic tool in commerce and industry. Comprising of Rs 1 lakh in cash, a trophy and a citation, the awards are evaluated on the basis of number of IPRs granted / registered, growth in IPR portfolio in the past five years, leveraging of IPRs for achieving commercial goals (valuation, licensing, launching of new products / processes associated with granted / registered IPRs), efforts for inculcating IPR culture (R&D budget, employment of human resources for R&D, collaborations with industries and universities, licensing from other sources) and contribution towards the socio-economic development of the country. 

Conferring the awards, on the eve of World Intellectual Property Day celebrations here on Friday, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Commerce and Industry mentioned  about the efforts put in by her ministry in formulating the National IPR Policy. She further apprised that the Think Tank had submitted the draft IPR Policy which will be announced soon after its ready pursuant to ministerial consultations. Ms. Sitharaman also discussed about the human resource challenges being faced by the Patent Office and how the Government of India intends to overcome them. She commended the efforts of individual inventors as well as innovative organisations and institutions for their role in moving India forward on the path of progress and assured the support of Government of India . 

On behalf of IIT Bombay , the award was received by Prof. Devang V. Khakhar, Prof. P.M. Mujumdar and Dr. Padma Satish. Dr. Satish Kumar, Distinguished scientist and Chief Controller R&D received the award on behalf of DRDO. Mr. HyunChil Hong, President and CEO, Samsung Electronics India along-with Mr. HyunWoo Bang (Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Team, Samsung Electronics) and Mr. Aloknath De (Senior Vice President & CTO, Samsung R&D India Bangalore) received the award for Samsung R&D Institute India – Bangalore Pvt. Ltd. Mr. P.K Bajaj, Executive Vice President,  received the award for Larsen & Toubro (Electrical & Automation) while Mr. Gopal Naik, Senior Vice President & Head Legal  along-with his team received the award for Aditya  Birla Retail Limited. Dr. P. Nayak, Secretary, Textiles Committee received the award on behalf of his organization while Dr. K.S. Narayan, Professor and Dean (R&D) and Acting President – receivged the award for Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore.