A strong IPR framework will ascertain the growth of future MSMEs 

L to R: Dr. S. K. Murthy, Patent Counsel, Intel India, Mr. Vivek Seigell, Director, PHD Chamber; Mr. Pravin Anand, Managing Partner, Anand and Anand, Dr. A K Garg, Director and HOD – International Cooperation and Bilateral Trade and IPR Division, Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Government of India and Mr. Ashok Tiwari, Chairman, Committee On ICT and Electronics, PHD Chamber and Mr. Subhashish Gaur, Deputy Secretary, PHD Chamber during the Inaugural Session

PHD Chamber of Commerce in association with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India has organised a ‘National Conference on Intellectual property as a Strategic tool for Start-ups and Innovators in ICT and Electronics sector’ at PHD House, New Delhi.

The objective of the conference was to discuss how MSME, Start-ups and Innovators in Electronics and ICT Sector can strategize the use of Intellectual Property Rights as a strategic management tool for growth and longevity of their businesses.

Ashok Tiwari, Chairman, ICT and Electronics Committee, PHD Chamber in his welcome address said that the 21st century can be referred to as the century of technology and knowledge. He added that the new government led by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has seen increasing IP awareness, growth and reforms aimed at strengthening the IP rights regime and mentioned that the Government since its inception has been consistently trying to revamp IP policies in India.

Vivek Seigell, Director, PHD Chamber in his theme address mentioned that Indian Information Technology – Information Technology-Enabled Services (IT-ITES) industry has continued to perform its role as the most consistent growth driver for the National Economy. He added that IP plays a crucial role in innovation intensive industries like ICT and Electronics industry. 

Dr. S. K. Murthy, Patent Counsel, Intel India while addressing the Inaugural Session stressed on the need for a very well balanced IP ecosystem in the country. He mentioned that a lot of good things have taken place in the Indian IP ecosystem with the advent of National IPR Policy 2016 launched by the Government of India. 
He also suggested that the Government must revise the CRI guidelines as they have not brought clarity to the system. He in particular mentioned that the government should do away with the clause of ‘novelty in hardware’ for software to get patented. 

Pravin Anand, Managing Partner, Anand and Anand mentioned that internationally ‘Brexit’ has been an issue which has impacted the Intellectual Property Rights. He added that patent filing in recent times have been dominated by Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT) and Renewable Energy. He further complimented the Government for bringing the National IPR Policy which has been beneficial especially for start-ups in the form of reduction in patent filing fee, tax rebates as well as provision of facilitators for filing of trademarks and patents.

Dr. A. K. Garg said over the past 3 years, there has been a policy domain in place which is more inclusive where government, industry and citizen are working towards a goal of making India a better place. He mentioned that initially IPR was not considered very important in India as economic growth was centred on finding solutions to common things by getting technology across borders and implementing them for providing basic needs to citizens. Due to ICT sector witnessing exponential growth in India, a plethora of technology oriented startups have emerged. He added that 4 startups are born in India everyday of which 80% are from the ICT sector.

Dr. A K Garg highlighted that the no. of patents filed must not be the only criteria to judge a country’s performance and focus should also be on filing of quality patents. 

Plenary Session
The Plenary Session of the Conference was chaired by Dr. H Purushotham, Chairman & Managing Director, National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India. Other eminent speakers included Palak Bhatia, Advisor, Start-Up India, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt. of India; Ankita Tyagi, IP Manager, European Business and Technology Centre; Lakshika Joshi, Head IPR, Nucleus Software; Anil Kumar, Senior Consultant, LexOrbis Consulting and Jitendra Sharma, Assistant Manager - Legal IP/IT, MetLife. 

Dr. H Purushotham, Chairman & Managing Director, National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India in his presentation gave a SWOT analysis for IPR for startups. He mentioned that NRDC is recognized as a government agency by DIPP, for issuing letter of recommendation to Start-ups.He added that NRDC was a house of technology transfer which licensed over 4900 technologies and provided support for Regulatory Approvals, Marketing, Skill Development, incubation Services among other activities for providing maximum benefit.

Lakshika Joshi, Head IPR, Nucleus Software gave an insight on possible strategies to be adopted for protection of incremental innovations. She explained through graph various stages of innovation and categorised types of innovation as Incremental, Breakthrough and Radical innovation. Ms Joshi added that an organisation’s focus should be to provide customised options to its customers and provide them benefit.

Anil Kumar, Senior Consultant, LexOrbis Consulting Pvt. Ltd. highlighted on Intellectual Property as a tool in Strategic Business Management for startups. He mentioned that startups need to be unique and offer something which no other company is offering in form of Patents, Registered Designs, Trademarks and Copyrights. 

Jitendra Sharma, Assistant Manager- Legal IP/IT, MetLife in his address stressed on Copyrights and Trademark issues in the Digital Environment. He elaborated on types of infringement including cybersquatting and typo squatting, content infringement, Hacking/ Phishing among others.

Ankita Tyagi, IP Manager, European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) addressed the Technical Session on India-EU IP Facilitation Forum. 
Palak Bhatia, Advisor, Start-Up India, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt. of India presented on the Startup Initiative launched by the Govt of India. In her address she mentioned that India is the 3rd largest startup nation in the world with 1400 newborn startups coming to existence every year majorly constituted in Delhi/ NCR and Bengaluru.