IPR Registration such as trademarks and patents

Intellectual Property Rights is an inevitable tool for today’s globalized economy. Fostering innovation is one of the sustainable development goals set by the Government of India. “An India where Intellectual Property stimulates creativity and innovation for the benefit of all” is the vision of our National IPR Policy. Several initiatives have already proven to foster innovation like the Make in India, Start up India, Digital India and Skill India. The Atal Innovation Mission nurtures the innovative energies across the country in schools and universities. Under the IPR policy, the cell for IPR Promotion and Management, CIPAM has been tasked to facilitate creation and commercialization of IP assets in collaboration with the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks.

The filings for IP rights have considerably increased and the Intellectual Property Offices are also getting revamped in terms of capacity building. More Examiners have been recruited and trained in Patents. The Patent Office started functioning as International Searching and Examining Authority since October 2013. It is encouraging to note that more applicants are now choosing IPO for international search. Applicants registered as Start-ups and those who have chosen Indian Patent Office as ISA or IPEA in the corresponding international application can avail of the facility of Expedited Examination. To ensure quality in all our operations, a dedicated Quality Assurance Division has been set up in the Patent Office.

Manpower augmentation and business process reengineering have proved to substantially increase the output of the Trademarks Registry. Electronic communication has been initiated for Designs for quicker processing. Many of the globally famous products that are part of India’s rich cultural heritage have been registered as Geographical Indications. The Copyrights Office is also brought under the Office of CGPDTM.

With all efforts in place, it is expected that IPO would leap to even greater heights.

The popular examples of IPR are Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks.

Patent

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem. To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application.

Copyright

The Copyright Act, 1957 (the ‘Act’) came into effect from January 1958. The Act has been amended five times since then, i.e., in 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1999 and 2012. The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 is the most substantial. The main reasons for amendments to the Copyright Act, 1957 include to bring the Act in conformity with two WIPO internet treaties concluded in 1996 namely, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (“WCT”) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (“WPPT”); to protect the Music and Film Industry and address its concerns; to address the concerns of the physically disabled and to protect the interests of the author of any work; Incidental changes; to remove operational facilities; and enforcement of rights. Some of the important amendments to the Copyright Act in 2012 are extension of copyright protection in the digital environment such as penalties for circumvention of technological protection measures and rights management information, and liability of internet service provider and introduction of statutory licenses for cover versions and broadcasting organizations; ensuring right to receive royalties for authors, and music composers, exclusive economic and moral rights to performers, equal membership rights in copyright societies for authors and other right owners and exception of copyrights for physically disabled to access any works.

Trademark

A trademark is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others. The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher, or on the product itself. Trademarks used to identify services are sometimes called service marks.

NGO Formation (Trust, Societies etc)

A non-governmental organisation (NGO) is a type of organisation generally restricted to social, cultural, legal, and environmental advocacy with primarily non-commercial goals. NGOs usually gain the portion of their funding from private sources. In India, starting an NGO is not such a difficult a task. After setting up an NGO, one has to work for the welfare of the society without expecting any profit. To start and run an NGO in India is an almost similar process to run a company, but here one has to keep transparency.

• Steps to easily start an NGO in India:
• Step 1: Decide the cause and mission of your NGO
• Step 2: Set up the board of directors/members
• Step 3: Decide the name of your NGO
• Step 4: Memorandum Articles of incorporation/ Articles of Association
• Step 5: Get your NGO registered
• Step 6: Start collecting funds
• Step 7: Build a wide network

Registration for NGO:

Once all the documents are ready, and after the submission of fee, one can get his/her NGO registered under any of these Acts-

• Societies Registration Act (In society, minimum seven members are required to be the members)
• Indian Trusts Act (In charitable trust at least two people are required, there is no limit of maximum members)
• Companies Act (A non-profit company can be registered under section 8 of the Companies Act with the registrar of companies.)