The Government of Telangana and CII would jointly institute an award to recognise institutions that create and preserve intellectual property (IP) from next year, Principal Secretary (IT, Industries & Commerce) Jayesh Ranjan announced here on Friday.
The awards, to be presented on the World IP Day celebrated on April 26, would be given in three categories – startup, industry and academia. Participating in a session on ‘Intellectual Property and Sports: Leveraging Innovation to Reach for Gold’ as part of the World Intellectual Property Day celebrations, organised by CII-Telangana here, he said there was a need for more robust IP protection in the country though awareness on it has been increasing. He said there was tremendous innovation taking place in the country and sports offers a huge business opportunity for many.
Stating that there were several institutions in Hyderabad that support startups for IP protection, Mr. Ranjan noted that Nalsar University, a founding partner of T-Hub and RICH (Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad), was supporting startups for IP protection. Research and innovation in sports, particularly in the area of diet, gears and equipment, has been changing the way sports are played these days, he said.
In his address, Director General of RICH, Ajit Rangnekar, said IP’s recognition and its understanding was increasing in India, but a lot of awareness was still needed to be created on what constitutes the IP. “As much as 90% of what we pay for many products is for the IP and the remaining 10% is for the cost of other constituents of the products,” he pointed out.
Chess grand master and Padma Shri awardee Harika Dronavalli said the use of technology has changed the way any game or sport is played today. Citing the example of chess, she mentioned that with the use of technology, it is now possible to check the moves of all the players and prepare accordingly. Earlier, they had to revise all the moves over the board, she said adding that the level of the game has improved solely because of technology.
G.B. Reddy, professor of law at Osmania University said the relevance of IP rights was on the rise with innovations in sports. With the increasing awareness on IP in sports, many sports personalities were patenting for character merchandising and personality rights.
Former chairman of CII-Telangana Sanjay K. Singh and former chairperson Vanitha Datla said there was a need for commercialisation of IP to reap benefits. Several other sportspersons also participated in the session.