Guwahati: As the world is gearing up to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, we wish to bring attention to the necessity of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) knowledge for running a successful business. 

"The trouble is that Northeast Indian start-ups are not well informed IPR", Dr Suchibrata Goswami, a resource person for Assam Start Up, informed Business North East. "When I was in the IPR cell of Tezpur University, we especially worked for Geographical Indication (GI) tags, especially with muga silk as it has good scope."

Recently, several items found in Assam, including Muga silk, received GI tags, opening the doors to more business opportunities for these indigenous crafts.

"Initially, people were not aware of GI, how they could use this tag so powerfully to market their products, and how they could start various start-ups out of this muga silk", Goswami added. "Awareness is very much required for start-ups. They should know how to create a strong trademark that gives uniqueness."

World Intellectual Property Day, established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000, is an annual event that raises awareness of the impact of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and designs and celebrates the contributions of creators and innovators to global economic and societal development.  The date coincides with the 1970 Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In 2000, WIPO officially declared April 26 as World Intellectual Property Day.
 
IPR provides certain exclusive rights to the inventors or creators of that property, to enable them to reap commercial benefits from their creative efforts or reputation. There are several types of intellectual property protection like patent, copyright, trademark, etc.
 
Since its inception, WIPO's member states have reported official events, with the campaign attracting users from 189 member states in 2022. Hundreds of events are organized to celebrate inventors and promote understanding of the intellectual property system and its associated rights.

The theme for this year's World Intellectual Property Day is - 'IP and the SDGs: Building Our Common Future with Innovation and Creativity.' To build our common future and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we need to re-think how we live, work, and play. World IP Day 2024 is an opportunity to explore how intellectual property encourages and can amplify the innovative and creative solutions crucial to building a common future.

Since then, WIPD has become an annual global event celebrated in over 180 countries, with diverse activities and initiatives organized to raise awareness and spark discussions about IP’s multifaceted impact.

India's Department of Science and Technology (DST) established the Patent Facilitation Cell (PFC) in TIFAC in 1995 and subsequently, 24 Patent Information Centres (PICs) in various states under the Patent Facilitation Programme (PFP) of the department, to create awareness and extend assistance on protecting patent, copyright, and geographical indication at the state level.

These PICs have also established Intellectual Property Cells in Universities (IPCU) of their respective states to enlarge the network. As of now, 84 IPCUs have been created in different universities in the states. In addition, they are also liable to assist the inventors from government organizations and state universities, for patent searches to find the potential and assessment of the invention.

Meanwhile, the Assam Science, Technology, and Environment Council (ASTEC) is creating a haven for producers and shopkeepers to prevent duplication of their work by giving them intellectual property rights (IPR). ASTEC has been receiving 4-5 applications every month for acquiring an IPR.
 
Debashish Dutta, Scientist-B at ASTEC's Patent Information Centre, explained different types of intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, design, trademarks, layout designs, plant variety protection, and geographic indication. "A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, providing 20-year protection. Geographic indications are signs used on goods with specific geographical origin, acquired for 10 years. Copyright is for creators of literary and artistic works, including computer software. A trademark is a distinctive design identifying goods or services, typically 10 years in protection, and can be renewed indefinitely", he said.

At the same time, the Ministry of Education has announced the inclusion of the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking of universities, starting in 2023. This new addition aims to foster entrepreneurial activities and encourage innovation within universities, ultimately influencing their rankings in the NIRF. As a result, the duration of training programs will be extended to facilitate these endeavors.

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