'IP is vital component of any successful economy'
Transcript of a speech by British Deputy High Commissioner Chennai, Bharat Joshi at launch of IP Smart Toolkit in Chennai, 20 April 2016.
Thank you Swapna. I would firstly like to congratulate IP Dome Chennai for successfully developing the Intellectual Property Smart Toolkit. This is meant to be a practical tool for companies, in particular SMEs, to navigate IP in India successfully. It is a free resource, available to anyone with an interest in the field.
It’s easy to dismiss IP as arcane and peripheral to companies making investment decisions, and only incidental to economic growth. That would be a mistake: IP is a vital component of any successful economy as a driver of growth. The UK’s total investment in IP rights – patents, designs, copyright and trademarks – runs at over 4% of our GDP. In 2011 we invested almost half as much again on intangible assets, including IP, as on tangible assets - £127 billion on intangible assets, compared with £88 billion on tangible assets.
That’s why intellectual property matters. Great ideas, properly protected and effectively exploited, help companies compete more successfully both in home markets and overseas. Businesses perform better, grow faster and are more resilient.
The UK has a good story to tell. In 2013, the Taylor Wessing Global IP Index judged the UK to be the best place in the world to obtain, exploit and enforce intellectual property rights. This confidence is fundamental to the continuing success of some of the UK’s world-class industries.
India as an active WTO member has in place an intellectual property framework and an enforcement mechanism. And this government recognized the importance of IP in the last budget. But as IP is jurisdiction specific, UK companies are often confused about the most effective ways to protect, monetize and enforce their IP when doing business in India which can lead to nervousness about bringing their IP assets into India.
The ‘IP Smart Toolkit’ on doing business in India, prepared by IP Dome, discusses practical IP issues that any new business in India might face, including around local partnerships, how and when to bring IP into India, maintaining confidentiality, technology transfer, and other key concerns you will hear more about during the course of the day.
We are happy to have supported the creation of the toolkit and hope it will go some way in dispelling some of the concerns associated with bringing IP into India.
I’d also like to take a moment to introduce the UK Intellectual Property office representative Anshika Jha who is based in Delhi. If you have specific questions about IP law, enforcement or policy in India, please feel free to get in touch with her.
Before I conclude, I wanted to say a word about an exciting new UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) initiative to support Indian ICT innovation – which both our countries rely on. The GREAT Tech Rocketship awards 2016-17 will take a selection of India’s fast-growing Technology Companies - ready with products/services that are internationally scalable with high market opportunities – to UK partners, investors, mentors participate log on to Tech Rocketship awards or contact my colleagues present here.
Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the rest of today’s programme.