Capitalising globally on innovation requires its global legal protection. A technology company operating in one country competes in many cases with firms from the rest of the world. Mediating the effects of this competition requires the right tools to protect a company’s technological assets in the right markets.
Whilst Europe and India are major trading partners and important sources of innovation, technology owners from both regions are relatively inactive when it comes to protecting their inventions in each other’s markets. In the long term, insufficient protection may impede the competitiveness of European and Indian firms, as they will not be able to claim their rights over their inventions in relevant markets. Accessing and using the most appropriate and up to date information on such rights is an important step in strengthening a firm’s competitive edge.
Against this backdrop, and with a view to supporting the Indian Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) and the European Patent Office (EPO), are conducting, in co-operation with different Indian chambers of commerce and government institutions, a series of roving seminars on “Using patent information for business intelligence and IPR commercialisation” in India in June. The first of these takes place in Kolkata on 1st June 2015 in association with the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I).
Mr. Suman Lahiri (Regional Director, EBTC) stated that “EBTC has developed multiple collaborations between EU and Indian SMEs/ research institutions in the area of energy, environment and biotechnology in the eastern region. However, a major concern surrounding such joint cross-border activities remains IPR. As future trends in the region clearly indicate at entrepreneurship driven by innovation, knowledge and awareness of IPR becomes extremely important for competitiveness.” Mr. Arvind Chopra (Head-IPR, EBTC) reiterated that “through these seminars we intend to raise awareness and build the capacity in intellectual property, enabling innovators to proactively search for state-of-the-art clean technologies, create their own analyses, and identify rights holders for technology transfer.”
“Having established the world’s largest collection of patent information, and made this readily available via the internet, the EPO welcomes the opportunity for these services to be increasingly used by Indian users in order to support innovation and technology transfer between our two regions, “said EPO’s Principal Director, François-RégisHannart. “The co-operation developing between the EPO and India’s Intellectual Property Office will also help maximise synergies and interactions between our patent systems for the benefit of both regions,” he said.
“BCC&I, being the oldest institutions of its kind, has always emphasised on the need for it to bring value to its stakeholders by continuously reinventing its offerings. We believe this programme will help the green innovators find a fast track opportunity to hit the market by availing the opportunities brought by the European Patent Office in environment-friendly technologies and strengthening their own intellectual property rights”, says Dr. Alok Roy (President, BCC&I).