The Hindu Business Line : Patent applications get quick clearance

THE new patents regime in the country has lead to faster clearance of applications filed for patents and trademarks and also made the entire process highly conducive for the users, according to Mr S. Chandrasekaran, Controller General of Patents, Trademarks and Designs.

He was addressing a two-day national seminar on Intellectual Property Rights in Manufacturing, jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Andhra Pradesh Technology Development & Promotion Centre (APTDC) here on Thursday.

According to him, the entire intellectual property rights (IPR) system in the country has become fast track with easy filing of applications and procedures. As a result, the waiting period for clearing a patent or trademark application has now come down to 8-12 months from the earlier system of 7-8 years.

Expressing concern over the IPR illiteracy of industry in the country, he urged them to come forward and file more patents towards an enhanced competition.

The Controller General urged the industry use IPR as an important tool for the economic growth.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the seminar, Mr Chandrasekaran said his office was being fully computerised to enable faster granting of IPRs.

The department was also keeping all the information pertaining to patents applications available on the Web and was offering a three-tier opposition platform for interested public to counter the fraudulent filings.

Delivering the key-note address at the seminar, he told the industry participants that the IPR laws in the country that were archaic earlier have been made highly conducive for filing of applications by the manufacturing industry.

Unhappy over the poor IPR awareness among the manufacturing industry, he pointed out that over two-lakh patent applications were filed in China last year while the situation was poor in India at around 17,000 patent applications.

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