New Delhi, July 02: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space and MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday said that “StartUps Intellectual Property Rights Protection” is aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship.
In his inaugural address at the ‘National Intellectual Property Festival’, organised by the CSIR at the National Physical Laboratory here, Dr Jitendra Singh said the filing of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) including Patents and Trademark by StartUps, along with Industry linkages will encourage innovation and motivate enterprise in India. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the Government came up with the IPR Act in 2016, the Trademark Registration process has come down to one month, which was more than one year earlier, he said.
“Soon after this, StartUps Intellectual Property Rights Protection scheme was brought in, which envisages 80% rebate in patent filing and 40%-50% rebate vis-à-vis the Industry and the companies,” the minister said.
Dr Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched several schemes which supplement each other to reinforce the StartUp ecosystem and their Capacity Building.“You can couple the StartUps, eg. you have the Mudra scheme, which offers you a loan of 10-20 lakhs without any gratuity, mortgage, almost interest-free,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention that with the vision to protect IPRs for StartUps, the government has launched a scheme, Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) for encouraging the innovation and creativity of Startups. The startups are given an 80% rebate on Patent filing fees and a facility for expedited examination of patent applications. Under the new Trademark Rules, Startups have been given a 50% rebate in filing fees vis-à-vis other companies.
Even for the promotion of registration of Industrial Designs by StartUps as per the new design amendment rules 2021, the Government has reduced filing and prosecution fees for small entities.
The minister said there is a huge round of encouragement and promotion both for StartUps in terms of being innovative and entrepreneurs.
Dr Jitendra Singh called for combining the digital repository of traditional knowledge and heritage with modern scientific innovation. “By institutionalising this mechanism, we can gain cutting edge in sectors such as Khadi, Aroma Mission and Lavender cultivation,” he said.
“I am convinced, this is one of the best times happening, optimum times happening, and if we are into this StartUp IPR protection, we have the advantage of supplementing our StartUp ventures with our traditional knowledge, which is not happening as frequently as it could happen here. And if we do that, we would actually have an edge over other countries,” he said.
