The Department of Information Technology (DIT), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Govt. of India in its endeavour towards generation of awareness on Intellectual Property Rights, especially for Small and Medium Enterprises, has lately announced a scheme for providing financial assistance to SMEs and Technology Start-Up units for international patents filing. The scheme, named as Support International Patent Protection in Electronics and IT (SIP-EIT), seeks to encourage indigenous innovation by reimbursing 50% of cost of patent filing for any International Patent filing by SMEs whose patentable inventions are in ICT/Electronics domains irrespective of final application areas.

This attempt to recognize the value and capabilities of global IP and capture growth opportunities in the area of information technology and electronics is based on a study of sample Published Patent Applications related to Information and Communication Technologies carried out by DIT in association with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The dismal picture of filed patent applications (less than 10%) in the area of Information and Communications, as evident in the figures of Published Patent Applications (related to ICT), made it imperative to highlight the necessity of intensifying the IPR culture in Indian organizations / researchers especially in SMEs.

C-DAC is hopeful that this initiative would make entrepreneurs more aware of their intellectual property rights and would encourage them to file applications for patents on their inventions. This enterprise is also in consonance with the mission of C-DAC to utilize the intellectual property generated in the field of Information Technology to benefit society by converting it into an exciting business opportunities and establishing a self-sustaining and wealth creating operation.

The SMEs eligible to apply for the reimbursement under “Support International Patent Protection in Electronics and IT (SIP-EIT)” are Registered Indian Micro, Small and Medium enterprises, Enterprises engaged in the manufacture or production of goods where the investment in plant and machinery does not exceed Rs.10.00 crore or Enterprises providing or rendering of services where the investment in plant and machinery does not exceed Rs.5.00 crore, In-house R&D Certification by DSIR or Technology Incubation enterprises registered as companies with support under some government scheme.

The support up to 50% of the total patent cost will be in form of reimbursement of expenses in actual to the applicant and will be limited to Rs.15 lakhs or 50% of the total expenses incurred on filing each invention whichever is less. The reimbursement shall include expenditures incurred during patent filing such as all patent processing costs including Attorneys’ Fees, Patent Office filing fees, Examination Fees, Patent Search cost, Additional cost for entering National Phase up to grant/issue.

The criteria for acceptance of patent applications for consideration of financial support are as follows:-

• Applicants having already filed a patent application for the said invention in India.
• Invention must be in the Electronics/ICT technology domain.
• The application must be accompanied by prior art search report from an International Search authority/ registered attorney firm or any other agency of repute.
• The patent applications are to be processed through a registered patent attorney in a patent attorney firm having an experience of at least 5 years in handling international patent applications.
• The applicant can apply for the support at any stage of international filing. However, reimbursement will only be applicable to expenditures incurred subsequent to the date on which application has been cleared for support.

The option for filing International Patent for an applicant can either be the PCT route or direct to any country of his choice. However, the applicant needs to furnish justification for his choice of route and of country/countries in which he desires to file a patent application.

The documents to be provided by the Company to avail the scheme are:-

• Application Form (giving requisite information about the applicant and the invention)
• Reimbursement Details (As per the format in the application form)
• Patent Search Report
• Product brochure (if any)
• Copy of Registration of the applicant industry
• Copy of official filing with Indian Patent Office
• Latest Annual Report of the Company.
• Proof of DSIR recognition of in-house R&D in industry (preferred) / Proof of Govt. supported incubation Enterprise
• Declaration (as given in the application form)

The reimbursement is to be made after satisfaction on the eligibility and acceptance criteria and as per details given meets the patentability criteria for consideration of support, the reimbursement process will be initiated immediately and payment made through e- transfer.