IPR Awareness -Study shows low IPR awareness in India

Despite being actively engaged in research and new innovations, over 35% people are not aware of intellectual property rights (IPR), a latest study revealed.

The study conducted by Einfolge, an international patent analytics and market research company, stated that design patents, geographical indication (GI) and trade secrets need more attention to get the benefits of IP rights.

The conceptual study on ‘Intellectual Property: Rights, Need & Awareness’ reveals that majority of respondents — students, scholars, teachers and managers — from 203 educational institutions in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana were not fully aware about the benefits of IP and other related issues. Also, around 35% respondents were not aware about IPRs.

The respondents had minimal awareness about monetary benefits of acquiring an IP right, commercialization of acquired IP rights, or the legal troubles that one might land in for using a pirated product, the study stated.

“We conducted the survey both online and offline among students and technical staff to know how knowledgeable they are on intellectual property rights,” said Binod Singh, co-founder and director, Einfolge, and author of the study report.

“From the responses, it’s good to know that IPRs have been made a part of the curriculum. Even though the knowledge on IPRs is spreading through awareness programmes and curriculums, we can identify few areas which need attention such as design patents, global indication and trade secrets,” he added.

“The responses also pointed out that most people are not aware of the existence of an IP department in their college and more than 70% people in institutes have no thoughts of registering an IP,” Singh said.

Trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) have become a game changer for many companies in India. This is also a global scenario with companies using IPR to strategic advantage.

The study recommended that educators need to incorporate IP into their curriculum discussions to increase knowledge on the importance and benefits of protecting IPRs.

Source:https://www.livemint.com/Politics/Rap1LeEuftJTFehNt00gTJ/Study-shows-low-IPR-awareness-in-India.html