New WIPO Report on IPOs and Sustainable Innovation: India Takes A Number of Steps

Sustainable development is a significant focus globally and intellectual property (IP) offices have a particular role to play in supporting the achievement of the ‘core’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) relating to industry, innovation and infrastructure.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recently released a report “Intellectual Property Offices and Sustainable Innovation - Implementing the SDGs in National Intellectual Property Systems” to identify examples of good practice among IP offices in supporting the achievement of SDGs.

E-filing incentives, incentivized processing and use of artificial intelligence (AI) in IP office products are reported as main categories to encourage sustainable innovation. However, examples of fee reductions relating to technologies that support sustainability are much less prevalent among IP offices than instances of accelerated search and examination. In India, filing fees have recently been discounted by 80% for female entrepreneurs as well as for small and medium-sized enterprises, as part of a national drive to encourage innovation. Qualifying applications are made online. The report indicates that India also provides a possible example of indirect financial incentivization. The Government Initiative, Startup India, aims to help Indian entrepreneur and Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) ensures loans at low rates proving helpful in providing credit to MSMEs. Several structural reforms have been taken for sustainable economic growth and productive employment. As a result, the number of patents granted has been regularly increasing.