Intellectual Property (IP) must for protection against Product Imitation

No.PR-253 September 12, 2020 New Delhi Intellectual Property (IP) must for protection against Product Imitation Punjab State Chapter of PHD Chamber in association with Ministry of MSME and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar organized a Video Conference on Importance of Intellectual Property (IP) in Innovation Management for Startups on 11 September 2020 to apprise Startups and Students about IP Laws and importance of legalities and contracts in IP. In his Introductory remarks Dr. Preet Mohinder Singh Bedi, Director, IPR Cell Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar congratulated PHD Chamber for setting up PHD Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre (IPFC) at Amritsar. He mentioned this would encourage Startups and MSMEs in this region to protect their ideas and innovations. Mr. RS Sachdeva, Chair, IPFC Steering Committee & Mentor, Punjab State Chapter, PHDCCI welcomed the speakers and participants. He informed that PHDCCI has been assigned three IP Facilitation Centres by Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India in the States of Punjab, J&K and Delhi. The IPFC in Punjab has been set up at Amritsar that will be formally inaugurated in this month and would provide all IP related services like Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights, Designs and Geographical Indication, etc. He added that PHDCCI would be organizing series of events to publicize and apprise stakeholders of the services of IPFC for Startups and Industry members. Underlining the importance of IPR, Adv. Geeta Gulati, Trade Marks & Patent Attorney in her address explained that there are three forms of IPs. Trademark covers name, logo and color, gives identity to the product and has territorial jurisdiction, Copyright refers to the way company’s logo & name is written and Design which is similar to copyright comes into existence when the copyright is given to the manufacturer. She added that Patent can be done for a new invention only. Adv. Gulati also explained that IP can be financially exploited in the form of franchise agreement, Licensing and Royalty. She further explained that both civil and criminal remedies are available for protecting the IP. Speaking on the occasion, Pune based Legal Consultant, Ms. Deepika Divekar Panicker,Co-Founder & Partner, Lawgicon said the goal of each Startup is to create a product or a service that enables the Startup to eventually become a market leader. However, it is very important to pay attention to the various agreements, documents and legalities that come along the way because despite having a great product if the legalities are not in place you might end up paying a heavy price. From relationships with your employees and co-founders to associations with vendors and investors, all commercial transactions are ruled by set of rules and laws and this is what is stated in a contract. An understanding of contracts, will help better approach all these commercial transactions and keep yourself and your company safe from any legal action or liability. Thanking the eminent speakers and participants, Dr. Bedi said that very useful information was shared during the program and will greatly benefit Startups and encourage them to use IPR tools for their benefit. IP Queries were discussed at length during the session. More than 100 Startups and Students from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar attended and benefited from the programme. Ends Media Division PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry