Helping hands

PATENTS: APTDC offers a complete IPR package to small companies.

Globalisation has brought in benefits in the form of access to larger markets, more resources and immense information. Along with it, however, has trudged in global competition.

Companies therefore, are applying various methods to tick off rivalry and intellectual property rights (IPRs) is one of the methods being employed towards this end.

The Andhra Pradesh Technical Development and Promotion Centre (APTDC), a society formed with the joint participation of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Technology, Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council, has been in the forefront for facilitating IPRs for SMEs.

It's IPR service portfolio includes patentability assessment criteria report, which is typically offered before the actual filing of the patent application. This gives a detailed report to a patentee on whether an invention is patentable or not.

It also has an exclusive corporate service package for management of IP. This involves development of an IPR policy for the organisation, introducing systems and practices for IPR protection and development of a competitive IPR strategy.

APTDC also provides a monthly update of patents filed and granted in a specific domain area so that the patentee drafts claims with greater clarity.

This apart, APTDC assists in the actual drafting and preparation of specifications for IPR applications and does follow-up for obtaining the IPRs. These services come at a cost of Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000. The centre provides free counselling services for interested entrepreneurs and has been organising various workshops for sensitising the public on IPRs.

"We have executed IPR facilitation services for 150 intellectual properties in the state. These include copyrights, patents, trademarks, geographical indications and the likes," K Subodh Kumar, head of APTDC said, adding that these were in various stages in terms of being granted the rights.

One of the success stories of the centre has been patent rights facilitation for an auto injector device which has applications in military and civil applications. The geographical indication rights for Pochampally Ikat have also been facilitated by APTDC.