Intellectual Property (IP) is an extremely significant asset to a nation. The value of a nation in the global economy is often determined by its strength in the field of IP. Thus, the IP laws of a developing country like India must keep pace with the changing times and promote prosperity and protection of rights by way of its laws. For IP rights holders, times like these are especially challenging, and a fortified IP scheme could infuse some energy for recuperation/best patent lawyers in Delhi. Over the years, the Government of India has taken several steps to encourage innovation in the nation, especially post the introduction of the National IPR Policy in 2016. Making the e-filing process simpler and more facilitative, the processing of patents also being made electronically, etc. are just two of the various moves of the Government/Trademark your business name.

Recently, in a landmark declaration on behalf of the government, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Mr. Piyush Goyal released a statement acknowledging the contribution of educational institutions being a figurative breeding ground for innovators. and hence, the forerunners in the patent race – educational institutions – all need to be set on an equal footing. Acting on this proposition, he declared a patent fee reduction -for privately owned educational institutions which are recognized by the government – amounting to 80% on the present amount of INR 4.24 lakhs. The amount has now been reduced to INR 84,900 which is at par with the provision for government institutions. This policy shall be applicable to all recognized educational institutions applying for patents, whether in India or abroad/trademark registration in Ludhiana

It is common knowledge that the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings every year take into account the numbers that universities around the country present in terms of patents applied for, granted, and actually utilized commercially. Now that private Universities have been brought forth and this step has been taken to boost their efforts, these rankings might see a significant change from the usual trend of government universities and institutions – especially engineering studies ones – being at the epitome. As we are well aware, hastily filed patent applications in the rat race towards increasing the count of patents filed for, could result in the decreased utility of granted patents. Thus, what also remains to be seen is the impact of this move on what is known as the ‘patent race’.