Cause of establishing IP Clinics in India

In general terms, intellectual property (IP) is any product of the human intellectual efforts and ingenuity that the law protects from unauthorized use by others. The ownership of IP inherently creates a limited monopoly in the protected property. In today’s times knowledge and innovation have become new currencies. Technology and knowledge are key factors of production. Market has graduated from quality deliverables and cost arbitrage to innovativeness. Innovation is considered as key to maintaining global competitiveness.

Intellectual property continues to be a dynamic and constantly evolving field, closely tied to technological, economic, political and social changes. In the changing global scenario, the issues of IPR have gained special importance for business and industry. IPR protection plays a key role in gaining competitive advantage in terms of technological gains for achieving higher economic growth in a market driven economy.

It is strongly felt that IPR requires greater understanding and attention by the people at large in India, particularly those in the industry and business. While majority of the countries have adopted strategies for implementing strong IPR protection for strengthening their industries and trades; Indian industries, particularly the micro small and medium enterprises are lagging behind in recognizing the importance of IPR and adopting IPR as a business strategy for enhancing competitiveness.

Government agencies (governments), companies and individuals are all confronted with, use or own intellectual property rights (IPRs) and each of those may have to assess IPR-related legal issues by obtaining the advice of IP professionals. The major challenge before organizations is to create a culture of IPR regime, so that their creative works and innovations get duly protected. They need the best and most complete advice that can be obtained to clearly understand those rights and guide their actions regarding them. For instance, Indian MSME sector desperately needs more information, orientation and facilities for protecting their intellectual powers. This situation calls upon a strong need for establishing some sort of institutional facility for capacity building, viz. imparting practical knowledge and legal awareness about IP generation/creation and protection in India. IP Clinics at Universities and technical/public research institutions could play a major role in fulfilling this need for providing informed opinions/expertise to a plethora of stakeholders discussed above. It is high time to discuss the broad contours of IP Clinics and evolve a framework for its implementation in India. I am sure that the Workshop could be able to be a trigger for this highly desirable outcome.