Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DIPP) has published its “Draft Model Guidelines on Implementation of IPR Policy for Academic Institutions” under the “Creative India; Innovative India” scheme.

The guidelines have been prepared by Cell for IPR Promotion & Management (CIPAM) and are based on the “Guidelines on Developing Intellectual Property Policy for Universities and R&D Organizations, WIPO, Geneva”. The guidelines also borrow from intellectual property policies of other universities published on WIPO.

The objectives of the guidelines are, inter alia, to provide a framework to foster innovation and creativity in an ethical environment and to protect IP rights generated by faculty/students of an academic institution.

The Copyright Office has, vide public notice dated August 27, 2019, reiterated that there is no requirement to obtain a license to use any sound recordings played in “a marriage procession and other social festivities associated with a marriage”.

In the trade marks journal published on August 19, 2019, the mark “INDIA GATE” (in reference to food grains and allied products) has been notified as a well-known mark.

Since April 2019, a total of 16 entries have been added to the list of registered GIs in India. Some of the latest additions include Irish Whiskey, a famous alcoholic beverage from Ireland, Palani Panchamirtham, an offering made to the presiding deity of Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani swamy Temple in Palani Town, Tamil Nadu; Tawlhlohpuan, a compactly woven fabric from Aizawl and Thenzawl towns, Mizoram; Mizo Puanchei, a colorful textile from Mizoram and Tirur betel vine, mainly cultivated in Malappuram district, Kerala and used for making pan masala.

India improved its raking in the GII by five places to 52^nd in 2019 from its last year’s 57^th position. India is one of the countries to consistently witness an improvement of its rankings over the last few years.