'IPR protection can create more jobs, money'

A respect for the intellectual property rights (IPR) must be cultivated in India if the country wished to take its rightful place in the knowledge economy, according to Rebecca Ward, director - intellectual property and licensing, Microsoft India.

Addressing a Indo-US seminar and workshop on IPR enforcement, she said that losses in India due to piracy was $239 billion. If the piracy was reduced by 10 per cent, it would help the IT sector in the country to grow from $7.4 billion to $19.5 billion and generate 115,000 jobs. It would also add $5.9 billion to the country's GDP, she said.

She added that IPR protection would be important for the growth of an economy and development of companies that invest in innovation.

Talking on 'Counterfeiting and Piracy' she said: "When piracy rates go down, it will create more job opportunities, consumers will have more choices, innovators will have more financial incentives and entrepreneurs more software-related solutions."

If piracy was reduced by 10 per cent globally, it would generate $67 billion in new tax revenues. This was enough money to provide job opportunities to over 400 million people, healthcare services to over 40 million people and computers to about 33 million school children, she added.

The workshop was part of the first-ever US initiative to work directly in India with the Indian government and with industry to strengthen IP rights. CII has been organising this three week series of workshops that began last week in Delhi on World Intellectual Property Rights Day. It then moved to Mumbai earlier this week and it will conduct similar workshop in Kolkata during the next week.