New IPR policy to protect Indian innovation, says Commerce Minister
The government is in the process of bringing in a new IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) policy to ensure that Indian patents are protected, said Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The government has set up a panel to formulate a new IPR policy in order to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. The minister said that the proposed policy will make sure that the process of registering patent is easy and affordable even for small and medium enterprises. “Patent cannot be so expensive to register. Patent cannot be so beyond small and medium industries. You shall have it within the affordable category. We shall ensure that the rights are protected. And the new IPR policy which is yet to reach the cabinet for approval will ensure that Indian patents are protected, Indian designs are protected, Indian copy rights are taken care of,” the minister said at the golden jubilee celebrations of the EEPC in New Delhi on Thursday. About the impact of global slowdown on India’s exports, the minister said that the “international gloom is not applicable to India” and many countries see India as the “light of hope” to revive their international trade. “When we go out, when we have bilateral trade negotiations or multilateral negotiation, everyone would say it’s sluggish and it’s gone to pick up. It’s not that sense of despair, in a sense that it was probably there in early last year,” she said, adding that every country is making efforts to find ways to get out of the sluggishness. “And therefore, on that story of wanting to find solution, wanting to revive export, revive the market, India is seen as the light of hope,” the minister said. Ravi Kapoor, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, who was also present on the occasion, asked entrepreneurs to invest more in manufacturing activity so as to increase exports. “The industry should gear itself up with the challenges of a huge expansion. So far we have not seen domestic investment happening at the moment. I think that is an area of concern. But we can assure you from the government side that things appear to be absolutely in place and perhaps it is the time for you to plan new investments,” said Kapoor. Expressing concern over various challenges faced by the engineering industry, EEPC Chairman Anupam Shah urged the government to enhance liquidity of exporters with “competitive interest rate”. He said that India’s engineering export which has grown from $10 million to $70 billion in the last 60 year is expected to touch $200 billion by 2030. At present, the sector accounts for 22% of the country’s total merchandise exports.
September 04, 2015 | 4:12pm IST.
to success.