An initiative of the Government of India, under the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise Ministry, the MSME National IPR Yatra 2023 was successfully conducted in Bengaluru on 23 & 24 March’23, to create awareness about the benefits of IPR and conduct sessions on how MSMEs can filing for Patents, trade mark, copyright, and many other IPR related topics.
The 2-day event MSME National IPR Yatra, Bengaluru was organized by MSME DFO, Bengaluru in association with the National Law School of India University and co-organized by Small Enterprise India.
With many MSMEs operating in overlapping and crowded markets, the need for competitive advantages and unique selling propositions has long existed. IPRs provide just that, especially for businesses that operate in the manufacturing or engineering space. MSMEs in developing countries like India typically focus on protecting tangible assets such as land or machinery and leave the domain of intellectual property rights (IPR) to larger enterprises. This propensity is set to change with the introduction of the L2Pro platform, launched in the second week of October 2019. India’s base of more than 70 million MSMEs will now be able to utilize this e-learning platform that is designed to guide them on IPR and how they can leverage it to expand their business operations. For small businesses, concepts like IPR have often been beyond their means and dreams. Without a proper understanding of the subject, or training in it, IPR can be a daunting domain for MSMEs to operate in.
The two-day MSME Ministry event on IPR was held as a Seminar on Day 1 and Conference on Day 2. The objective is to promote innovations and provide appropriate facilities for the development of the concept to market, design competitiveness, and protection and commercialization of Intellectual creations of the MSME sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Ganapati Akadas, Director MSME DFO, Bengaluru said, “ As you all know, India is not very exposed to IP, when we compare to other developed nations. So, our ministry is committed to changing this scenario. After the Make-in-India initiative by the government, we are trying to manufacture almost everything in India. Especially, the more focused sectors are defence and other manufacturing sectors, Aerospace …etc. That’s why last year we launched the MSME Innovate scheme, under which three components, one of them is IPR and the other two are, the design clinic and incubator scheme.
Last year we have created around 30 incubators in Karnataka, mostly located in engineering colleges. And to support it, IP is the main focus because unless you patented it, this technology will not stay with you. So, keeping that in mind, our department is now focusing more on IP and getting IP subsidies, and educating the benefits of IP. Our experts will let you know what you will get under the MSME IP Scheme. And we will be reimbursing the cost of getting patent trademarks, GI, and various other factors that fall within the scheme.
Under the design clinic scheme, we are supporting new concepts and new designs. At present, uh, we have a Center of Excellence in Design located in IISc, Bangalore, where our ministry is actively involved. Every year, those who have some ideas and concepts, can upload the concept and design ideas on their portal and the committee will select the beneficiaries and they’ll be given full technical support from the Indian Institute of Science and Seed Capital from the Ministry.
Hence, people need to know all those things because many of those schemes are not known to the public and also the entrepreneurs. So, keeping all these benefits in mind, the ministry decided to launch this IPR in a big way, and today we have assembled here for a two-day program in which, uh, we have invited, IPR experts who will take you through the sessions and how to go ahead and how to get benefits out of it.
The keynote speech was delivered by Prof. Dr. T. Ramakrishna, Chair Professor of the DPIIT Chair on IPR, National Law School of India University. Dr Ramakrishna, with his 45 years of experience in teaching various Law related subjects, MHRD IPR chair professor, worked on many IPR-related research projects and associated with IPR developments in the country and at the International level, member of different Expert groups constituted by Ministries of the GOI /GOK as a lead member in the Expert Group on Patent Facilitation of the DST has many publications. He has participated in the WIPO-WTO colloquium for IP Teachers, represented India in SCCR of WIPO, was head of the FSTP project, lead the Bio-devillac project on Biodiversity, a visiting Professor at Colombo University, visiting scholar at Washington University, was a member of Copyright Enforcement Advisory Council besides others. He is associated with the IPR ecosystem of the Northeast through holding IPR conferences and working with PICs of N-E States. Dr.Ramakrishna has been associated with MSME Ministry for over 25 years.
During his keynote speech, Dr. Ramakrishna said, “ The two days program on MSME IPR will highlight the importance of converting your creations, your ideas into commercially viable intellectual property rights, the importance of the conversion of these ideas that can be converted into your property rights, which you can protect, effectively, monetize and defend.
The pendency period of a patent application as notified by the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) itself before the policy was formulated was 84 months. They said Brazil is the longest waiting period. Next is India. And from that stage, we have moved now to a stage where we would say, well, would you like to have a patent within 300 days? The number of Indian patent applications was between 12% to 18%. We have moved up and we say we have crossed more than 50% of the Indian applications, of the total applications. Why is this happening? This happening because of, number one, the conscious efforts made by the different government departments and the volunteer organizations plus, that sense of responsibility that has been taken up by the creators and the innovators, not only individuals but also organizations.
Launching a brand is going to make your presence in the market much more effective and the flagship product that you’re going to be associated with that particular, trademark of the brand is ultimately going to take all other products of yours into the market much more effectively and efficiently.
Many MSMEs find it difficult to spend so much on IP. I don’t think you’ll have to worry. Now with MSME, I’m sure you’ll be able to meet those expenses with government money and not spend any money.
Day 2 of the event, was graced by Dr. Rajneesh, IAS, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, Government of India. On the occasion, Dr.Rajneesh said, “ India aspires to be the top nation in the overall development of MSMEs and the fastest growing economy. A nation that aspires to reach US$ 10 trillion, with a growth of about 8-8.5% which is required. Given the aspiration and the challenges, how do we translate these aspirations into reality? It is here where the role of MSMEs comes in. Given the huge base that MSMEs have in the Indian economy, the aspirational desires of India need to be shouldered by the MSME sector. Indian MSMEs have always shown a resilience envied by others. During the pandemic, as we all know, the MSME sector was hard hit. The 2020 growth was negative and within 2 years, at present, the Indian economy growth rate is a positive 6.5%. The IMF states that the worldwide economic growth rate by the top nations – the USA is expected to grow annually at the rate of 1.3%, the UK is expected to grow at the rate of 1.2%, Germany at 1.2-1.3%, Japan is looking to grow almost on the similar range. It’s the Indian economy which is posted a growth rate of 6.5%. India is expected to surpass the growth rate of China in years to come. So, this is the inherent potential of the Indian economy.
India has 6.5 cr MSMEs. Out of which only 1.5 cr are having Udyam registration. So, if we see the pending 5 cr MSMEs getting Udyam registration and formal credit and funding, imagine the spur of growth and that is the major thrust of the Government of India. The other factor that will propel the Indian economy forward is the availability of credit o the MSMEs and also the cost of credit to the enterprises. Due to the narrowing interest rates when compared to the Western banks to the Indian financial institutions, India expects a huge flow of FDIs.
With regards to the 2 days of MSME IPR Yatra 2023, the session will help you understand its benefits of it. Imagine, if you have launched your products in the market without copyright and trademarks, what kind of value will you receive? The intent of IPR on the brand and products that you have invested in is to protect your product. Even if the product is innovative, your product will be valued only if you have a strong property regime. India is a very young economy. More than 50% of the entrepreneurial population is less than 30 years of age. So, when you have a population that is young, educated, technology-driven, and smart, then this population has dividends to pay. There are many types of research happening in Indian academia. Once academia is connected to the industry and MSMEs, that will be another factor that will ignite the faster growth of our economy. These days, we have been stressing the need for innovation. And innovation is the buzzword.
I would like to share 3 things with you.
1) We are at the cusp of a different era, an era of technological advancement and tremendous growth. Our PM Narendra Modi ji called it “Amrit Kal”, a journey of the next 25 years, which will take us to the 100th year of Independence. This is the time when we all need to come together, collaborate and work toward the economic development of our country. Whatever work we are doing, is not only at an individual level, it’s for nation-building.
2) We should be aware of our strengths. Especially about our economic strengths. We should be prepared to take advantage of this strength that we have so that we don’t squander away the opportunity presented to us.
3) We should also be aware of the challenges that are in front of us. We live in a very fast-changing world, where disruptions are the order of the day. We see a rapid change in the traditional industry arena. But every challenge has its opportunities.
In this era, if we have to face challenges and move ahead, we need to embrace technology, embrace change, and for that, we must always be willing to experiment to find new ways of doing things. How can we make our businesses more efficient? How can we use better technology to reduce our cost and be a much more environmentally compliant organisation as sustainability plays a major role in development not only in India but at the global level.”
Gopinath Rao, Dy. Director, MSME DFO, Bengaluru, officially welcomed the August gathering. While welcoming the MSMEs and dignitaries, he said, “Your product brand and design needs to be protected. Today, we face fierce competition across the world. You need to protect your new ideas. There are procedures. The advantages are humongous. If you want to grow your business in the future, you need to protect your ideas and new development that are taking place in your business life. With the advent of the digital world, businesses are growing faster, and that makes India the fifth-largest economy in the world.
The Ministry of MSME is taking a lot of effort to protect MSMEs in all ways through various schemes. The IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) is one such program. We all know that every year a lot of patents are applied. India has around 65,000 patents that are being filed. Business growth depends on innovation and creativity. Today if your product has to outsell in the market, the creation of new designs, new incorporation, new ideas, new silent features in the product will play a major role.”
Speakers who trained the MSMEs and conducted the sessions were:
- Prof Ramakrishna T, Chair Professor of the DPIIT Chair on IPR, National Law School of India University.Subhash Bhutoria, Partner, DSK LegalAnjali Santhosh, Managing Associate, Banana IP CounselsNeha Naik, Associate Partner, Phoenix LegalHiroki Watanabe Jetro, Director Patents, Japan External Trade Organisation
Hana O., Director CzechTrade Harikrishna Holla, CEO at HOLLA ASSOCIATESDr. (HC) K V OMPRAKASH, Corporate Lawyer, Mediator & Arbitrator, Conscientia Law Associates and Founder Director, Conscientia Consultancy, Bangalore
An engaging Panel Discussion on the “EMERGING USE OF IP RIGHTS – USE OF PUBLIC DOMAIN IP IN BUSINESS, PROTECTING BUSINESS SENSITIVE DATA THROUGH IP LAWS”, was moderated by Subhash Bhutoria, with panelists Harikrishna Holla, Ceo, Holla Associates, Neha Naik, Associate Partner, Phoenix Legal, Siddharth Suresh, Partner, DSK Legal, Anjali Santhosh, Managing Associate, Banana IP Counsels
Shashi Kumar, Dy. Director, MSME DFO, Bengaluru along with B.S.Hosmani, Asst. Director, MSME DFO, Bengaluru, concluded the event by thanking all MSME participants, dignitaries, and eminent speakers who have shared insights into the benefits of IPR during the 2 days event. Both were instrumental in organizing the 2-day event.
During the event, Dr. Rajneesh, IAS, Additional Secretary, and Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, Government of India felicitated a few of the MSMEs, who have received reimbursement for Patent and Trademark fees.
