Several initiatives taken for enforcement of IPR laws: DIPP Secy

India has taken several steps such as organising workshops and training programmes for enforcement agencies like police and customs for proper implementation of laws pertaining to intellectual property rights (IPRs), a top government official said Tuesday.

Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek said enforcement of IPR laws is an extremely important matter.

"We have worked with all agencies, states and police. We have conducted 33 enforcement training programmes for enforcement of IPR laws," he said here.

He also said that to combat online piracy, India has collaborated with various associations for removal of rogue websites and as many as 80 such websites have been removed.

"We need to see how our IPR laws are better enforced to stop any violations. We have taken initiatives to strengthen our IPR administration for better enforcement and the work is also in progress," he added.

The secretary said India would have to protect its IPs just like it protects the physical property.

"We also need to see how our IPR laws are better enforced to stop any violations. In the last four years we have taken many initiatives to enforce a good IPR policy regime. We have tried to streamline our IPR administration. We have also done a lot of training of police and judiciary for better enforcement. But this is work in progress," Abhishek said.

He said this while addressing media about the two-day conference on 'Global Digital Content Market', which is starting from Wednesday here. The conference will bring together CEOs, artists from around the world to discuss on opportunities and challenges of IPRs in the digital age.

Talking about digital content, he said India is a leader in many aspects of this content as it has robust music, film, media and publication industries.

"These industries are going to grow phenomenally in the next few years. We need to deliberate on the challenges and look at the opportunities that are coming in our way," he said.

Talking about the subject, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) DG Francis Gurry said the digital content industry is huge and there is a need to ensure that the creators and writers receive a reward from utilisation of their content and India has a big music, film, and media industry.

There are several issues in this sector which need to be looked at and that includes how to ensure that creators continue to get protection, and get better remuneration at the digital platforms, he said.

Talking about India's IPR regime, Gurry said India has made extraordinary efforts in recent years in strengthening its IPR regime.

"There is an extraordinary reduction in processing time (of IPR applications). There is an improvement in the infrastructure of IP offices," he said.