Lok Sabha Question No. 4318 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-12
Subject: Promotion of NIPR
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY, RAMESH POKHRIYAL NISHANK, MANSHANKAR NINAMA, E. T. MOHAMMED BASHEER, BHARAT SINGH, DUSHYANT CHAUTALA, M. K. RAGHAVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY & PROMOTION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4318. TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, THE 12 TH  DECEMBER, 2016.

## PROMOTION OF NIPR

## 4318.  SHRI KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY:

DR. RAMESH POKHRIYAL "NISHANK":

SHRI MANSHANKAR NINAMA:

SHRI E.T. MOHAMMED BASHEER:

SHRI BHARAT SINGH:

SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA:

SHRI M.K. RAGHAVAN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

## वाणिज् यवव द्यग ं ्री

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  National  Intellectual  Property Rights  (NIPR)  policy  has  certain  shortcomings  causing  low  patent  filing environment and if so, the details thereof along with the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (b) whether efforts have been made for simplifying the process from intellectual property up to the production level and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  announced  a  comprehensive  National  IPR policy  and  if  so,  the  salient  features  thereof  along  with  the  response  of International commercial institutions thereto;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to provide financial assistance to researchers and scientists for giving market access to their achievements and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote  awareness,  creation, enforcement and capacity building for IPR?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज् यवव द्यग ााज् यं ्रीस् वतं ््रभााा(स्रींतंरीिरंमलााीरीतंाांि(

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRIMATI NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a): The National Intellectual Property Rights (NIPR)  policy  has  no shortcomings  causing  low patent filing  environment.  Rather,  the  Policy advocates taking steps to increase domestic filings of patent applications.
- (b): Yes,  Madam.  The  Patent  Rules  were  amended  in  May  2016,  aimed  at simplifying  patent  processes.  Major  changes  affected  in  this  regard  are  as follows:
-  Prior  to  the  amendments,  a  fee  was  charged  for  withdrawal  of  an application which has now been waived.
-  The  excess  fee  deducted  during  online  filing  process  earlier  is  now refunded.
-  There was no provision for the withdrawal of request for examination; now 90% of the fee paid for request for examination will be refunded in case an  application  is  withdrawn  before  the  issuance  of  first  statement  of objection.
-  Timelines have been imposed on issuance of report by the Controller as also submission of replies by the applicant.
-  Adjournments  have  been  limited  to  2  adjournments/  party  and  each adjournment can be of maximum 30 days.
-  Hearing  through  video-conferencing  and  other  communication  devices has been permitted.
-  Expedited  examination  of  patent  applications  filed  by  Startups  or  those selecting India as an International Searching Authority (ISA)/ International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) has been introduced.
- (c): Yes, Madam. The National IPR Policy is a vision document that encompasses and brings to a single platform all IPRs, taking into account all inter-linkages within  the  Indian  IP  ecosystem,  aimed  at  creating  and  exploiting  synergies between  all  forms  of intellectual  property  (IP),  concerned  statutes  and agencies. It lists the actionable points  under the following seven  key objectives -
-  IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion
-  Generation of IPRs
-  Legal and Legislative Framework
-  Administration and Management
-  Commercialization of IPRs
-  Enforcement and Adjudication
-  Human Capital Development

Response from international institutions to the Policy has been encouraging.

- (d): No such proposal is under consideration.
- (e): Various  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote awareness, creation,  enforcement  and  capacity  building  for  IPRs. Awareness  programmes  have  been  organised  at  various  places across the country. An enforcement toolkit has been created as a ready reckoner for police officials in case  of Copyright  and Trademark  violations.  Training  is  imparted  at  various  police  and judicial  training  academies  on  IPRs. 459  new  technically  competent Patent Examiners in various fields of technology have been recruited in the patent office in addition to the existing 130. 100 Trademark Examiners have also been appointed on contractual basis.

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