Ludhiana: In a good news for the local industry, the Central government has approved an Intellectual Property Rights Facilitation Centre (IPRFC) for Ludhiana. The centre will spread awareness about intellectual property rights among entrepreneurs, especially those connected with micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
Though the government has sanctioned the centre for the city’s business body, Auto Parts’ Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), it will offer services to all other sectors as well in filing for patents, copyrights, trademarks, and industrial designs.
GS Kahlon, APMA president, said, “This will be the first IPRFC of Punjab that will help and train businessmen about intellectual property rights (IPR). The main role of this centre will be to take measures for protecting ideas and business strategies and assist MSMEs in technology upgrade and enhance their competitiveness and also educate them about effective utilisation of IPR tools. Government has officially communicated about sanctioning of the IPRFC, other details will follow soon.”
Gurpreet Singh, a member of the MSME Board of India, said the IPRFC would work for all types of industries, including auto, cycle, tractor and sewing machine parts, machine tools, agricultural implements and hosiery, among others. “Its functioning will not be limited to Ludhiana alone. There are several benefits of having an IPRFC in the city as these centres are authorised to organise interactive seminars and workshops for spreading IPR awareness. Financial assistance is provided for organising these programmes, which otherwise are costly affairs. The centre will offer pre-filing services, prior art search, preliminary patentability assessment, patent filing support with provisional specification and advice for international filing.”
An auto parts’ manufacturer, Daljit Singh, said, “Throughout the country, there are thousands of businessmen who have benefitted from IPRFCs. These centres specialise in providing assistance for various IPR services, like patent, copyright, trademark, industrial designs, geographical indications and general consultations, that have become an important part of business. Now with our own IPRFC at Ludhiana, we can save money and time.”