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Niranjana Kumaravel

Impact Of Intellectual Property Rights On Innovation

Updated: Nov 19, 2023


A board that says, 'Turn ideas into reality.'

Innovation plays a crucial role in driving economic growth by fostering productivity, creating new markets, and enhancing competitiveness. Innovation is important in driving economic growth as it plays a great role in improving productivity and efficiency, job creation, competitiveness, improved standards of living, economic transformation, etc., IPR fosters innovation by incentivizing innovation, encouraging research and development, facilitating technology, protecting innovators rights, attracting investment and fostering economic growth. Filing IPR has significant importance as it provides protection for innovation, market advantage, and monopoly, the incentive for investment, technology commercialization, defending against infringement, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.


Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are legal rights granted to individuals or entities over their creations or inventions. These rights provide exclusive control and protection for intellectual property, which includes inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. The primary types of IPR include patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets


Patents protect inventions and technological innovations. They provide exclusive rights to the inventor or applicant, granting them the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing their invention without permission. Patents are typically granted for a limited period (usually 20 years) in exchange for disclosing the invention to the public.


Copyrights protect original works of authorship, including literary, artistic, musical, and dramatic works. They grant exclusive rights to the creator or copyright owner, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display, perform, and create derivative works based on the original work. Copyright protection generally lasts for the life of the author plus a certain number of years.


Trade secrets protect confidential business information, such as formulas, processes, methods, customer lists, or any valuable information that provides a competitive advantage. Unlike patents or copyrights, trade secrets rely on keeping the information secret and implementing appropriate measures to maintain its confidentiality. Trade secrets can be protected indefinitely as long as the information remains undisclosed and confidential.


Industrial designs protect the visual and aesthetic aspects of a product or its ornamentation. They cover the appearance, shape, configuration, or pattern of a product that gives it a unique and distinctive visual appeal. Industrial design rights ensure that unauthorized copying or imitation of the design is prohibited.


Geographical indications identify products originating from a specific geographical location that possess certain qualities, reputations, or characteristics attributable to that origin. GIs protect the names or signs used to indicate the geographical origin and maintain the authenticity and quality of products associated with specific regions or localities.


Plant variety protection (PVP) or plant breeders' rights are granted to individuals or organizations that develop new plant varieties. PVP grants exclusive rights to the breeder to produce, sell, and distribute the new variety for a specified period. This protection encourages plant breeding and the development of new and improved plant varieties.


IPR has both legal and economic implications. Legal implication includes protection of innovation against infringement of their right against innovation, Obtaining patents for inventions provides exclusive rights to inventors, allowing them to prevent others from making, using, or selling their inventions without permission. Copyright protection grants creators exclusive rights over their literary, artistic, and creative works. Trademarks protect brand names, logos, and symbols associated with goods and services. Protecting trade secrets through confidentiality agreements and legal measures prevents unauthorized disclosure or use by competitors.


Economic implication includes providing incentives for innovation by granting exclusive rights to creators and inventors, promoting fair competition by preventing unauthorized copying or use of intellectual creation, increasing the value of the business by protecting its intellectual assets, enabling creators and inventors to license their intellectual property to others for use or commercialization in exchange for royalties or licensing fees, playing an important role in the international trade which promotes economic growth.

  • A total of 67,727 patent applications were examined in 2021 as opposed to 70,924 patent applications examined in 2020. The Patent Offices granted 30,431 patents in 2021 compared to 26,309 in 2020 chalking in an increase of 15.66%.

  • A total of 11,997 designs were registered in 2021 as compared to 14,550 registrations in 2020, signifying a decrease of about 17.54% in filings and registrations.

  • Trademarks are perhaps one of the most notable and well-known forms of intellectual property in India. The Trade Mark Registry is also perhaps one of the busiest departments under the Office of the CGPDTM. The Trade Mark Registry received as many 4,49,264 applications in 2021 which marks an increase of about 13.78% in comparison to the total number of applications received in 2020. The number of registrations also appears to have hiked by 33.96% from 2020 when total registrations hovered around 2.3 lakhs. In 2021 over 3 lakh applications were registered.

  • Copyright filings and registrations have been on the rise over the past three years. While about 21,882 copyright applications were filed in 2020, the number of applications in 2021 increased by 29.71% totaling to a figure of 28,385 applications. The major applications appear to have been filed for literary/ dramatic works and artistic works. While 15,556 applications were filed in respect of literary/ dramatic works about 6948 applications were filed in respect of artistic works.

  • 2021 witnessed a significant increase of about 560% in GI Registration as compared to only 5 registrations in 2019. In 2021 a total of 33 applications were registered. There has been a steady increase in the number of applications filed over the year. In 2021 around 76 applications were filed as opposed to 51 in 2020, which accounts for about a 50% increase in the applications filed in 2021. Some notable registrations of 2021 include Tamenglong Orange, Mizo Ginger, Goan Khaje, Myndoli Banana, Lahaul Socks and Gloves, and Manjusha Art.

It's important to note that while IPR provides many benefits, finding the right balance between protecting intellectual property and facilitating access to knowledge is an ongoing challenge. Striking a balance that promotes innovation while considering public interests, such as affordable access to essential medicines or information, is crucial for fostering sustainable innovation ecosystems. IPR plays a major role in fostering innovation and providing protection for the rights of inventors. IPR has evolved to meet all evolving issues in modern times relating to the rights of inventors and their innovation




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