On the occasion of World Intellectual Property Day coinciding with
Global Exhibition on Services (GES) organized by Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Service Export Promotion
Council (SEPC), Hon’ble Minister of Commerce, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
felicitated and conferred National Intellectual Property Awards 2015 to
outstanding achievers in intellectual property (IP) development in India. While
speaking at the ceremony, she mentioned the need for proper recording and
documentation of innovative work in the country.
She added that Ministry of Commerce is very proactive in
developing an IP ecosystem in India. The newly developed think tank on IP
policy has just presented its recommendations and the Government is in the
process of finalising the policy. She said she was aware of the challenges
faced by patent offices across the country because of high attrition rate and
low remuneration but said that policy level help would be available. She called
for proper commercialisation of IP for the benefit of the nation.
Other officials present the ceremony included Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal,
Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, Mr. N. N. Prasad,
Assistant Director General of World Intellectual Property Organization and Mr.
Ketan Mehta, notable filmmaker.
Some of the notable organizations who received awards are Indian
Institute of Technology Bombay, Defence Research and Development Organisation,
Delhi, Samsung R&D Institute India, Aditya Birla Retail Limited, Larsen and
Toubro Limited (Electrical & Automation) and Textile Committee, Ministry of
Textiles, Government of India. Mr. Valagam Rajagopal Raghunathan received
awards in the category of Top Individual for Patents. Smt. Sitharaman praised
all the awardees and mentioned their commendable contributions to the society.
She welcomed all of them to showcase their success stories and lead the IP
culture of the country.
New Delhi
25 April, 2015