INDIAN SMEs
again, attempt to link the presentation to the practical requirements of small enterprises. In 2003, in co-operation with the SME division of the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), SIDO initiated an action to customise WIPO’s Guide to Trademarks for SMEs based on Indian trademark law and practice. SIDO endeavours to create IP awareness as part of a larger objective to internationalise and enhance the competitiveness of Indian SMEs in the global marketplace.
Te National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) works in close conjunction with more than 200 national research and development laboratories, and has licensed more than 2,000 technologies for commercial exploitation, of which nearly 1,000 are in production, with a current annual turnover of about Rs12,000 million ($269 million). Te NRDC nurtures new ideas and inventions, and provides the required resources to an inventor to convert an idea into a marketable reality. In order to promote indigenous inventive activity, the NRDC provides financial and technical assistance to Indian inventors, ensuring IP protection, effecting efficient transfer of know-how from laboratories to industry, providing access to new technology from India and abroad, and exporting Indian technological expertise.
In 2006, the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) under the Department of Science and Technology, initiated a programme aimed at providing R&D and technical support to select clusters of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through an approach based on establishing and leveraging academic and industry interaction. Te programme started with a comprehensive assessment of the technology needs and gaps of the cluster, followed by the design and implementation of targeted technical interventions for the particular cluster by the academic/R&D institutions, which act as knowledge partners. Te interventions include product/process technology improvement, testing and quality issues, and training/capacity-building.
Tere are other public sector institutions that assist small units to improve upon their technologies and provide them with a platform towards innovativeness. For example, the government’s PATSER and home-grown technologies schemes provide assistance to units to develop technologies and their pre-commercial launch tests.
Initiatives in the non-governmental sector
Non-governmental organisations were the
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frontrunners in creating awareness of IPR enforcement in the Indian soſtware industry. Te National Association of Soſtware and Service Companies (NASSCOM), an apex association of software firms, lobbied alongside the government in advocating for the amendments to the Copyrights Act of 1957 to include soſtware within their ambit. Te SME sector forms a significant percentage of the Indian soſtware and services industry, and NASSCOM recognises that this sector’s contribution will be crucial for India to retain its competitive advantage and sustain future growth. It has organised SME member meetings and focused SME activities in the past in order to understand their views about IT. A focused NASSCOM EMERGE Forum has been set up to address SME concerns at the micro level and to help catalyse growth, and aims to develop strategies to explore the opportunities in the sector. Te forum also serves as a platform for the SME segment to share experiences, work together on critical projects and focus on partnerships to cater to customer demands.
In July this year, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI), an apex industries association, set up an IP facilitation centre in Delhi to spread awareness about IP and to take measures for protecting the ideas and business strategies of MSMEs. Te facilitation centre comprises technical and legal experts, and is well equipped to offer services in all areas of IP.
Te Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has an IPR cell that spearheads the idea of utility patent legislation. Recently this year, the CII held a US-India SME forum for the promotion of bilateral trade between India and the US, to promote technology and science links between the two countries and to facilitate learning about capacity-building and innovation.
International agencies
International agencies have also given support to IP management initiatives in India. Te cluster development programmes implemented by UNIDO aim to create and strengthen collective trademarks for special products. For example, a UNIDO-assisted national programme for the development of the toy industry is concurrently being implemented by SIDO. Similarly, vegetable dye prints are the hallmark of the Bagru print cluster near Jaipur, and the UNIDO programme aims to internationalise the Bagru brand for products emanating from the cluster.
Effective IP management enables companies to use their IP assets to improve their competitiveness
World Intellectual Property Review November/December 2010 65
Kajigailiu Gaiduwan Kamei is a senior associate at Lall Lahiri & Salhotra. Her practice focuses on trademark and copyright matters including trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings, copyright prosecution, licences, assignments, technical assistance agreements and other intellectual property focused transactions. She graduated from Delhi University’s Law Faculty and began practising in 2005. She also holds an honours degree in Sociology from Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University.
and strategic advantage. As technical change and globalisation reshape the world economy, IP has grown in importance to take on a central economic role. Globalisation has given consumers the ability to choose and the desire for improved products and services. Tis in turn has changed industry mindsets. India is moving towards a consumer-centric economy from a production- based economy. Insufficient information on the relevance of IP in day-to-day business, the high costs of acquiring and enforcing IPRs, and perceptions that the IP system is too esoteric are some of the reasons why SMEs are slow to protect their IP assets. While various initiatives by support institutions have assisted SMEs in their IP management, greater promotion of IP assets by SMEs is required. Additionally, the capacity of the national government to develop strategies, policies and programmes to meet the IP needs of SMEs requires fine-tuning, and the capacity of the relevant business and industry associations to provide IP services to SMEs needs improvement.
Kajigailiu Gaiduwan Kamei is a senior associate at Lall Lahiri & Salhotra. She can be contacted at:
copyright@lls.in
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