Mumbai: Commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reiterated that steps are being taken to cut waiting period for trademark and patent registrations.
This was necessary, as Nasscom, stressed that as the product life cycles shrink, timelines for the grant of IPR is critical for its relevance.
The IT industry body said administration and enforcement of IP rights requires time bound processes and the policy has rightly identified it as a priority area in addition to initiatives outlined for capacity building at various levels including adjudication, enforcement and protection.
Nasscom expressed its commitment to partner with the DIPP in the modernisation efforts. It also said that periodic reviews and updates of IP related rules, guidelines, procedures will ensure an effective IPR.
Ms Sitharaman assured industry that registration time for IPRs like trademarks would come to global standards and “our waiting list will not be longer than the waiting list abroad. We have taken adequate steps to reduce the waiting list.”
The policy envisages building capacities, institutions and awareness. It will encourage research and development for greater innovation and also look at traditional knowledge systems. “So this is a policy, which is going to drive all these steps,” she told agencies. It is aimed at making India’s IPR regime far more vibrant. The total number of patent applications pending as on February 1, were 2,37,029 while 5,44,171 related to trademark registration requests.
