Q&A: Anuradha Salhotra, Managing Partner, Lall Lahiri & Salhotra

'Indian SMEs can innovate but have little idea of IPR'

Lall Lahiri & Salhotra (LLS) is a leading Indian intellectual property (IP) law firm based in Gurgaon. LLS has developed a database of all registered and advertised trademarks in India and an in-house trademark and patent management software. It has also helped establish the Institute of Intellectual Property Research and Practice, to spread awareness of IPR in India. Anuradha Salhotra, managing partner of LLS, talks to Business Standard on IP awareness among Indian SMEs. Edited excerpts:

Do Indian SMEs actually come up with new products, brands and creative designs that need Intellectual property (IP) protection, or are most of them too resource-poor to innovate on a meaningful scale?
Indian SMEs do have the ability to innovate and invent new products. And they do come up with inventions, trademarks, and so on. But these often get diluted when family divisions take place.

Your practice consists almost entirely of large, deep-pocketed clients who are aware of IP protection issues. What are the key lessons you have learned as a result of working with them over the years?
The basic thing about large clients is that they know what they want. They have a strategy in place, and a centralised location from which they plan this strategy. Sometimes their global strategy determines their Indian strategy. But now the Indian market is a big attraction by itself.

What kind of attitude do Indian SMEs have towards IP protection issues?
Indian SMEs have little idea of IP issues. They are quite ignorant about them. I know of Indian SMEs that have invented products and disclosed the formula without first having applied for IP protection, patents, and so on. There is a general distrust of lawyers, and pricing is an issue. But some SMEs have started coming to me, asking what Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) is all about.

Have you proactively tried to spread awareness of such issues among them, or tried working with them in this area?
We do lectures with Ficci and the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) — which is a registered society under the Department of Science & Technology — on IPR issues, as well as customised workshops with industry associations.

How can a concerted effort be made to make SMEs more aware of the need for them to create and protect IP assets?
A lot of awareness programmes are being conducted. It is only when SMEs grow big that they get to develop an interest in IPR issues. Just as companies have a business policy, they also need to have an IP policy or strategy. But I have come across very few SMEs that want to develop an IPR strategy. The ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises is doing awareness programmes with Ficci. But SMEs don’t want to spend on IPR protection.