Newsletter - India IP SME Helpdesk

At the end of May, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the EUIPO and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which will set the ground for future relations and cooperation between the two organisations.

Recently, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially inaugurated the country's first own 5G testbed. The new facility worth more than Rs 220 crore was developed in the framework of a multi-institute collaborative project by eight institutes led by IIT Madras. The testbed with facilities available at five different locations in India enables companies to test their inventions locally and thus become more self-reliant.

In its annual Special 301 Report, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has again placed India on the "Priority Watch List", next to China, Russia and four additional countries. According to USTR, the countries placed on this list present the most significant concerns this year regarding insufficient IP protection or enforcement or actions that otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.

India has gained a reputation as the world’s biggest pharmacy, being a centre of manufacturing to a large part of the world’s drugs and medical equipment. In India as in the rest of the world, the pharma and healthcare sectors are some of the most highly regulated markets, which require regulatory approvals before any drug can be put on the market. This new factsheet seeks to offer EU SMEs general guidelines on how to protect and manage their intellectual property in India when operating in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.

Trade secrets play an ever-increasing role in a company’s business strategy and IP portfolio. While trade secrets should primarily be seen as a tool to protect different kinds of information such as formulas, techniques or methods diffused across enterprises, they can also act as an alternative to formal IP rights in some limited cases. Introducing a definition of trade secrets, the publication also explains why trade secrets are important for SMEs willing to internationalise to India, and how to protect them on the Indian market.

In 2015, the Government of India launched the Smart Cities Mission to develop 100 smart cities in India. The main purpose of the project is to encourage sustainable and inclusive cities that: provide a core infrastructure, improve the quality of living, foster a clean and sustainable environment and create ‘smart’ solutions to challenges. This infographic sums up key aspects of the Smart Cities Mission, flags the most important IP rights in this context and highlights major benefits of using IP. 

With this new infographic the India IP SME Helpdesk team takes a look at the transport and e-mobility sectors in India, specifically summarising central IP rights relevant to these sectors and providing best practice examples and key takeways.

Tracing the story of the Austrian small and medium-sized company "TrainShoes", the case study sheds light on how the company successfully established its brand in the Indian market, but was soon confronted with an IP conflict as an Indian company was manufacturing shoes and clothes under the same brand.

The case study is centred around a European inventor, who developed a formula for a probiotic medical food and brought this to the US and Indian market. Based on key lessons learned by the inventor, it spotlights different factors which come into play when deciding in favour of expensive patent, or cheaper - but riskier - trade secret protection.

On the occasion of the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and non-wovens "TechTextil" from 21-24 June 2022 in Frankfurt (DE) and the "International Conference for Smart Textiles InMotion" from 21-23 September 2022 in Weimar (DE), the Enterprise Europe Network is organising an international brokerage event “Technical & Smart Textile” for companies, research institutions and all stakeholders who want to explore joint projects, technical cooperation or new business contacts with partners from Europe and worldwide. Interested parties can register for this free event with their cooperation profile on the online event platform until 20 September 2022 and select interesting participants for bilateral meetings.

From Tuesday 21 June to Thursday 23 June 2022, 4th Export Fair of Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) will once again take place in-person in Hall 1 of Brussels Expo. The events offers B2B meetings, workshops and an exhibition with numerous companies and initiatives presenting their support services for entrepreneurs who want to take their businesses abroad. During the event the India IP SME Helpdesk team will participate in a joint training session organised by the China IP SME Helpdesk. Meet us in Brussels and learn more about our free services on internationalisation and IP management & protection.

Organised by the FoodPackLab2 project in collaboration with the Enterprise Europe Network, the event "Innovative Solutions for Food Security Across the Value Chain" will bring together all project partners as well as European SMEs specialised in foodtech, agritech, foodprocessing, packaging and food safety. Attendees will learn more about novel trends and developments in food security, but will also have the opportunity to meet companies in the foodtech field for networking purposes. Plus, the India IP SME Helpdesk team will be there, too.

The ICT Spring event brings together investors and startups active primarily in FinTech, DeepTech, Space, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Gaming, and AR/VR. Participants get the chance to attend live pitches, listen to top-notch international speakers and catch up with innovative start-ups, local incubators, established brands, financial organisations and more than 100 investors. The India IP SME Helpdesk team looks forward to participating in this exciting global tech conference and to numerous lively discussions.

From key IP challenges faced by SMEs when entering the Indian market to IP issues in the Indian cosmetics, e-mobility or biotech industry: our training sessions cover a broad range of sectors and topics linked to IP management and protection in India. You missed some of our past "live" training sessions? No problem, just browse through our workshop recordings and learn more about your favourite topic wherever and whenever you like.

Do you need intellectual property support for registering your trade marks, patents, designs and copyright in India? Book an online meeting with our IP experts and get free and confidential advice on how to manage and protect your IP rights in the Indian market.