STARTUP INDIA ACTION AND POLICY

As per the framework laid down by the Govt. of Indiato be eligible, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has defined start-up as follows:

• It has been in existence for less than 5 years from date of its incorporation;
• Its turnover for any of the financial years has not exceeded 25 crores;
• It is working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or IP.

The Govt. has clarified that a business would be recognised as a startup if it fulfils the criteria as defined and shall be entitled to obtain tax and IPR related benefits.Post obtaining such recognition and certificate, the applicant shall be deemed a start up and may be entitled to avail the benefits.

Start Up India was launched by the Government of India to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start ups in the country to drive economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.

Importance of Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”)

For most first generation entrepreneurs across the country, challenges of funding, patents and creation of intellectual property remain.

There is a close link between industry, trade & IPR. IPR is instrumental for encouraging and nurturing creativity and innovation for technological developments and commercialization developed technologies. Thus, to boost the economic growth of India it is very important to identify and protect the IP generated in the country.

With an objective to promote awareness and adoption of IPR amongst Start-ups, the Government of India introduced a scheme for facilitating Start-ups Intellectual PropertyProtection (SIPP). The scheme is planned to facilitate protection of Patents, Trademarks and Industrial Designs of innovative and interested Start-ups.Under the scheme, the start-ups were granted benefit of up to 80% rebate in patent fees and free legal assistance. The government also reduced the tenure to 18 months for budding business units to avail the expedited examination of their patent application.

The start-ups in India are increasingly going for patenting their ideas and businesses. The importance of filing patent among the start-ups has also grown in the last two years.

Protecting IPR is a major challenge for all start-ups. However, protecting IPR not only gives companies the freedom to work on their ideas, but also in executing seed funding from the venture capitalists and other investors in the long run. Creating and maintaining a successful portfolio of IPR’s may prove to be expensive for a start ups, but the benefits surely outnumber the financial burden. Technological advancements, methods, services and or designs all come under the IPR umbrella. It is important to check if someone else has an IP for a similar work. There could be others in different parts of the globe working on a similar idea, which one may not be aware of. IP assumes significance for technology startups and biotech companies. There is a huge brand value attached to IP, in both the manufacturing and technology sector. It provides the stakeholders, investors and potential clients a sense of confidence in your venture.