The government has proposed to reduce fees for various intellectual property rights such as patents and designs for micro, small and medium enterprises and startups to promote innovation, Commerce and Industry Ministry said on Monday.

An individual, group or industry has to pay fees at different levels of intellectual property rights (IPR) application fillings.

As per the proposal, fees for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups for filing of patent applications will be reduced to ₹1,600 or ₹1,750 from ₹4,000 or ₹4,400 respectively.

For expedited examination, it will be reduced to ₹8,000 from ₹25,000 currently. Similarly, for renewal of patents, the fees will be reduced.

For design applications filing, fees for MSMEs and startups will be reduced to ₹1,000 from ₹2,000, the Ministry said.

For Geographical Indications (GI), fees was proposed to cut to nil for filing of application, issuance of certificate and renewal of GI from the current ₹500, ₹100 and ₹1,000, respectively.

It also said domestic filing for patents has increased from 22% in 2013-14 to 34% in 2018-19.

“Awareness programmes for IP are being conducted at schools, colleges, universities, R&D institutes and industry clusters,” it said.

The multi-pronged strategies have been used to address the issue of pendency in IP applications, including manifold augmentation of manpower and streamlining of procedures, it added.