Bring your IPR suggestions to the Government now: Chaitanya Prasad, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks 

Mr Chaitanya Prasad, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, Government of India, said that the government has constituted a think tank on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), which is currently meeting to discuss new issues in the IPR domain including functional design and utility models. Mr Prasad was talking at the Knowledgexpo, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in partnership with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Ministry of Science and Technology on November 20-21 in Greater Noida.

“Please bring in your suggestions to the government now,” Mr Prasad urged the industry leaders present at the event. At this Expo, CII is bringing together all key stakeholders-the government, industry, academia-for discussions on IPR, technology, higher education, innovation and design.

Mr Prasad said that it will take up to five years to be at par with the Western system as the department is now modernizing the system, strengthening human resources and publishing guidelines.  Mr Prasad added that IPR is a balancing act between public interest and protecting the interests of the creators and inventors. “We have to keep the big picture in mind,” he said.

Mentioning the progress that the department has made, Mr Prasad said: “We have thrown open our office to the world. Every form related to patenting can be found online, all payments are accepted online and we have made it into a 24-hour system.”

Highlighting the role of CII in taking up patent issues prominent in the country, Mr Ramesh Datla, Chairman, CII National Committee on Intellectual Property and, Chairman & Managing Director, ELICO, said CII has been raising awareness, capacity building, advocacy as well as networking amongst stakeholders. He added that CII has formed technology protection centres in some of the states that focus exclusively on the micro, small and the medium initiatives.

Mr Datla added that CII has been working with a wide range of stakeholders like the government, lawyers, police, customs, and enforcement officials amongst many others. The CII is also working with the keepers of traditional knowledge on patent issues.

Talking about the importance of protecting patents, Mr Lawrence T Welch, Assistant General Patent Counsel, Director, Global Patent Procurement Policies and Practices, Eli Lilly and Company, said that he hopes to see improvements in the IPR systems in India. He said that most of the essential medicines were invented just because the patent system provided protection to pharmaceutical companies. Elaborating on the role of patents, Mr Welch said that pharmaceutical companies take 10-15 years and an average of US$ 2.6 billion to produce a new medicine.

Mr Pravin Anand, Managing Partner, Anand and Anand, wondered why the link between innovation and IPR is still being debated in a knowledge economy like India. “It is time that we give positive signals on protecting patents. There were lots of positive decisions which did not get adequate publicity,” Mr Anand said.

Dr Santosh Mohanty, Vice President and Senior Executive, Tata Consultancy Services, spoke about developing a complete ecosystem around IPR, which includes upstream and downstream support. “Making IPR strong cannot lead an individual, a company or a country anywhere if the entire value chain is not strengthened,” Mr Mohanty said. He added that an idea has to be converted into research, which has to be turned into an innovation, which results into a patent and then an offering that answers the needs of the society or a country. “It should have an impact on society and the environment.”

Dr Mohan Dewan, Principal, R.K. Dewan & Co., listed out the sectors in which India is still lagging behind in research and innovations. He said that two very important sectors are agriculture and ayurveda where not much research has been done or patented. Dr Dewan also said that the Indian process of granting a patent takes very long which is discouraging for many inventors and highlighted the fact that many innovations become obsolete in just a few years.

Agreeing with some of his co-panelists, Mr Devdas Baliga, Vice President – Legal, Coca-Cola (India), said that India is so rich in its food and ayurveda formulations that these can just be taken out of the country. “The time has come to protect these fast.”

Mr Manoj Pillai, Partner, LEX ORBIS IP & Director, Clairvolex, too felt that some very Indian inventions need to be recognized through IPR. He particularly highlighted the case of ‘jugaad innovation’ where he thought the country needs to make laws.

In another session, ‘Role of Police and Customs in IP Protection and Enforcement,’ Senior Advocate, Ms Pratibha Singh, highlighted the difficulties in implementing intellectual property in the digital era. She also felt that there are international misgivings about India even though almost 80 per cent of the cases related to IPR are upheld. 

Her American co-panellist Mr Elliott Harbin, Section Chief, National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, highlighted the fact that his department coordinates and works with other US law enforcing departments to protect various kinds of infringements and stop counterfeit goods from entering US borders.  

Talking about the difficulties of enforcement, Mr C Pal Singh, Former IG Police Punjab and, IG Police, Rapid Action Force, said that the companies have to be very clear while approaching the police on what kinds of offence is being committed. He said that this will ensure that the police takes action on offences like design infringement, selling counterfeit goods or an IP violation. His views were echoed by Mr Chandrahas Mathur, former Chief Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise, and former member of Settlement Commission.

Mr Mathur also emphasized on the fact that there are detailed rules on IPR enforcement and five statutes fall under that. “Before you make a claim with the customs department, you should be legally clear that a violation is indeed being made,” Mr Mathur said. 

Greater Noida

November 20, 2014