NEW DELHI: There is a "dramatic" improvement in examination and disposal of IPR applications with the commerce and industry ministry taking steps to strengthen the intellectual property rights regime, a top government official said today.
Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ramesh Abhishek said the ministry has taken several initiatives such as increasing manpower and the use of IT.
"The improvements in our examination and disposal of IPR applications are very dramatic," he said here at World IP Day. Giving the data, he said that disposal of patent applications in 2017-18 jumped to over 47,000 from 22,000 in 2015-16.
Examination of patent applications too rose to about 60,000 in 2017-18 from 17,000 in 2015-16. Similarly, disposal of trademark applications in 2017-18 jumped to over 5.5 lakh from 1.1 lakh in 2015-16.
Registration of these applications too rose to over 3 lakh in 2017-18 from 65,000 in 2015-16.
Ramesh said the suggestion to establish mediation centres in IP offices is a good idea for reducing litigation in the sector.