Need of policy push for robust IP ecosystem in AP

Visakhapatnam: Awareness about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), which is not so significant, is picking up slowly with focus by powers that be to bring about significant changes in the innovation landscape across the State.

Andhra Pradesh had filed 1,445 patents and registered an encouraging growth rate of about 55 per cent in patent filings in 2023 compared to 2022 and stands 9th in India in spite of several challenges the State has been facing. To realise the full potential of the creativity of its people there is a need for strong policy support to build a robust IP ecosystem in the State, according to Prof. H Purushotham, DPIIT-IPR Chair, Andhra University, who earlier served as Chairman and Managing Director of National Research Development Corporation (NRDC).

World Intellectual Property (IP) Day is celebrated every year on April 26 across the globe and on that day, it is the general practice to introspect on how the organisations and countries performed on the IP front and a roadmap for future is discussed on this day as creation, protection and commercialization of IP is a backbone for socio-economic development in the knowledge economy of a nation.

The impact of IP on the economies of countries like the USA, UK, France, Germany, Sweden and Japan are well-known. About 40 per cent of the US economy is based on IP intensive industries. There are eight types of IPs being recognised across the globe and the major ones are patents, trademarks, designs and copyrights which are critical for businesses. Patents are a barometer for measuring the R&D intensity and innovation capacity of the organization or a country and they are highly valuable,” Prof. Purushottam told Bizz Buzz.

He said generally, a country’s IPR performance is measured in terms of IP index and innovation index. The US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Centre publishes every year the International IP index of major economies in the world. However the Global Innovation Index is computed by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). India has emerged as a key player in the dynamic landscape of IPR globally.

Prof. Purushottam said India ranks 42nd in the IP Index for 2024 out of the 55 countries evaluated. The US is once again the world leader in IP index followed by UK, France and Germany. It may be noted that there is a difference between Global Innovation Index (GII) and International IP Index as they use different frameworks. India ranked 40 in GII 2023 which is evaluated for about 132 countries by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a UN body.

The IP awareness and culture in India is not very strong. The Government of India has taken several new initiatives and proactive policy measures to revamp the IP ecosystem such as Cinematograph (Amendment Bill) 2023 Patent Amendment Rules 2024, strengthening the IP offices for speedy disposal of IP applications, IP based tax incentives, fee rebates, institution of IPR Chairs in institutions of higher learning, resulted in to granting 1,01,311 patents, 36,378 registration of copyrights, 27,819 industrial designs registrations, over 573 Geographical Indications (GI) registrations and around 2,80,000 trademark registrations during March 2023- March 2024.

When contacted, Dr. BK Sahu, Regional Manager (IPR), NRDC-Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre, WIPO Technology & Innovation Support Centre (TISC), Visakhapatnam, said there is need to take more collaborative innovation networking with various national and international stakeholders to enhance AP rank into next level with more participation from all forum from academia, industries and government.

He said “the challenges we face are deep-rooted and complex. We need to act now and we need to use all the tools available with us especially our ingenuity and intellectual property to achieve a sustainable future everyone,” and elaborated how the innovation landscape is undergoing change after the Government of India set up the centre here to create IP awareness and help interested parties to get patents, copyrights and trademarks and commercially transfer their technologies and innovations through collaborations.