Government approves national intellectual property rights policy, gives innovation a push

The Cabinet has approved the national intellectual property rights (IPR) policy with a view to promoting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. The aim is to create awareness about economic, social and cultural benefits of IPRs among all sections of society, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said while briefing reporters about yesterday’s Cabinet decisions.

The minister also let out that by 2017, the window for trademark registration will be brought down to one month.“The policy aims to create and exploit synergies between all forms of intellectual property (IP), statutes concerned and agencies,” he said.

According to Jaitley, there are seven objectives that guided the policy mechanism, which include IPR public awareness, stimulation of generation of IPRs, need for strong and effective laws and strengthening enforcement and adjudicatory mechanisms to combat infringements.

The policy also puts a premium on enhancing access to healthcare, food security and environmental protection.It is expected to lay the future road map for intellectual property in India, besides putting in place an institutional mechanism for implementation, monitoring and review. The idea is to incorporate global best practices in the Indian context and adapt to the same.