India’s Office of Controller General of Patents, Design and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and Capacity Building Commission organized the first-ever National Intellectual Property Conference, which took place from October 14 to 15 in New Delhi.

The conference’s objective was to assemble intellectual property (IP) officers, creators, and practitioners to discuss IP’s future challenges. The theme was strengthening the IP ecosystem for catalyzing the growth of the knowledge economy. More than 800 people, including eminent members of the judiciary and legislature, attended the two-day event.

Over the two days, most speakers applauded the progress the Indian IP Office has made in the past few years. At the same time, they stressed the need for a plan for the future. The conference emphasized the creation of a patent and innovation ecosystem as well as an IP awareness and outreach program at the grassroots level. Panelists also highlighted the need for all high courts in India to have an IP Division and a special panel of lawyers to represent the IP Office and assist courts and IP enforcement agencies. They stressed that a charter of ethics for IP Offices to follow should be drafted. To promote innovation, speakers also raised the possibility of offering IP insurance to startups involved in disruptive technologies, and of granting a balance of technology patent over product life and economic development.

The conference also heard about solutions to enhance the role of IP in the Indian economy, including:

Developing IP-driven R&D;

Imposing fast-track patent examination in areas of national economic priority;

Facilitating the establishment of simpler processes for approaching copyright societies for fair and equitable distribution of revenue, generated out of creative assets and seeking licenses; andDigitally enabling IT infrastructure for efficient IP administration and information access.

In fact, when he learned that the Design and Geographical Indication filing portals of the IP Office were still not fully digital, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Piyush Goyal, challenged anyone to develop state of the art software for the online filing and processing of Designs and Geographical Indication applications by stating that prizes of INR 11 lakhs (approximately US $13,500) per software would be available.

The conference concluded with a focus on the goals for increasing the manpower at IP offices, training for officers and practitioners, transparency in the processes, protection and commercialization of geographical indications, and the increased digitization and creation of smarter IP offices.

The National IP Awards 2021 and 2022 ceremony, for achievements of IP excellence, took place after the conference.

The well-organized and insightful event served as a reminder that India is committed to establishing a robust and transparent IP ecosystem.

Source:https://www.inta.org/perspectives/trademark-office-updates/india-government-hosts-first-national-ip-conference/