No.PR-298 October 23, 2020 New Delhi
Speakers highlight importance of IPR for Startups at Video Conference organized by PHDCCI
‘Speakers highlighted the importance of Intellectual Property Rights for Startups on day 2 of a Video Conference on Startup Bootcamp organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) here today.
Underlining the importance of IP rights, speakers mentioned that if Startups fail to register their IPs, then their competitors can take unfair benefit and exploit their ideas and brand value.
Addressing the Session, Ms. Geeta Gulati, Advocate, Trade Marks & Patent Attorney said that every startup has Intellectual Property (IP) Rights, which it needs to understand and protect. IP includes trade name, brand, logo, designs. The startup ventures should be proactive in developing and protecting their intellectual property for many reasons like improving the valuation of their business, to generate goodwill, to protect their competitive advantage, to use intellectual property as a marketing edge and to use the IP Rights as a potential revenue stream through licensing.
She mentioned that trademarks give identity to the venture and includes name, color combination and style of writing the name.
A trademark can be registered provided some other person has not registered for the same or similar name. The validity of trademark is 10 years from the date of filing the application and can be renewed infinitely. The trademark is valid only in the country in which it is registered.
She added that civil and criminal remedies are available for violation of IP Rights like using a similar mark for similar or related goods or services or is using a well-known mark.
She mentioned that copyright means a legal right of an author/artist/originator and prevents such work from being copied or reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder. Copyright registered in one country gets registered automatically in other countries and is valid for lifetime of the holder and 60 years after his death.
She said that Industrial Designs include product design that can be manufactured in a factory and their registration is valid for 15 years.
New invention can be Patented and their registration is valid for a period of 20 years.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Shweta Sen, Head, IPR Integrum IP explained that in India, a Startup is defined as a company which is fresh or not older than 10 years and is engaged in development of a new product or improvement of an existing product. A company formed by splitting of an existing company is not considered as a Startup. She added that it is important for Startups to get their ideas patented at the earliest so that they are not copied by larger companies having better resources. She mentioned that Startup IP Rights include Patents, Trademark, Industrial Designs, Copyrights and trade secrets.
Discussing about the strategies for protection and exploitation of IP Rights for startups, Ms. Sen mentioned that Startups should evaluate and prioritize the IP Rights involved in their business.
She advised that Startups should protect their ideas with Patent. She added that for patenting, it is not necessary that the idea should be a about a technological breakthrough. Even simple ideas can be patented. However, Patents are not free and all ideas are not patentable. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether the idea is patentable before filing the application.
Ends Media Division PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry