Minister felicitates Micromax for acquiring 1.25th Million International Trademark

Union Commerce & Industry Minister has said that the final draft of the National IPR Policy has been circulated for inter-ministerial consultation and will be put up to the Union Cabinet for approval after getting the comments.

Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman was speaking while inaugurating a seminar on ‘Protecting Brands Abroad with the Madrid System’ organized by FICCI, in association with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and DIPP. She said that India’s IPR Policy shall fully protect patent, GI and copyrights.

The draft policy, she said, focusses on stronger enforcement of IPR by increasing the manpower strength in IP offices and reducing the pendency of IPR filings. Most of the offices have done away with manual interface as all applications, queries and decisions are made online.

She sought to allay apprehensions in the minds of foreign investors about the strength of the Indian IPR regime, stating that final draft of the National IPR Policy has been arrived at through a transparent process with inputs from all stakeholders.

The Minister presented a certificate of appreciation to Mr. Vineet Taneja, CEO of Micromax, on its acquisition of the 1.25th million international trademark under the Madrid System.

Speaking on the Madrid Protocol on registering and managing Trade Marks worldwide, the Minister said that the system allows an applicant to file one application, in one language and pay one set of fees to protect the Trademark in all WIPO member countries.

Mr. Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in his address, said that the key challenge before the country was to attain growth rates of 9-10% year after year for 30 years. “We need to be a nation of job creators where innovation and creativity will be the key driving forces,” he added.

IPR protection strengthened: National policy aims to fully protect patents, GIs and copyrights while bolstering enforcement. The draft National IPR Policy, circulated for inter ministerial consultation and to be submitted to the Union Cabinet, aims to fully protect patents, geographical indications and copyrights by strengthening enforcement through increased IP office manpower, reducing pendency of filings, and digitalising application and decision processes; it also seeks to reassure foreign investors and highlights use of the Madrid System for streamlined international trademark protection.