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Saturday, March 25, 2017

Trade Mark rules 2017

New rules have notified. Some aspects:
Concessions to Start Ups, Individuals and Small Enterprises
The new rules offer 50% discount on the official fees for startups and SME’s (small and medium enterprises) with respect to filing an application for registration of a trademark and for expedited processing of an application for registration of a trademark. Filing an application for registration of a trademark is Rs. 5000 (Paper Filing) / Rs. 4500 (e-filing and expedited processing of an application for registration of a trademark is Rs. 20000 (e-filing only)
The applicant should be recognized as a startup by the competent authority under the Startup India initiative. To qualify as a small enterprise, the applicant’s investment in plants and machinery alone should not exceed ten crore rupees if the applicant is a manufacturer. However, if the applicant is a service provider, the investment in equipment in general should not exceed five crore rupees.
Unlike the Indian Patent Amendment Rules, 2016 where the applicant being a startup/individual/SME enjoys discounted costs for the entire life of a patent application and even subsequently thereafter, in respect of renewal of the patent, the Trademark Rules, 2017 has limited the discounts with regard to Startups/Individuals/SME’s only filing and expedited examination of the trademark application.
Source: SELVAM&SELVAM

Friday, March 10, 2017

Global R&D Funding Forecast 2017

Highlights of the report:

  • Global (116 countries) R&D investments will increase by 3.4% in 2017 to $2.066 trillion.
  • More than 115 countries having significant R&D investments (more than $100 million)
  • USA tops the list with 25.5%, followed by China 20.8%, Japan 8.4%, Germany 5.4%, South Korea 4.1% and India 3.8%.
  • India spends more on R&D than, U.k, France, Sweden, Denmark,Russia, Australia, Israel, Canada etc.
  • In the U.S., two-thirds of all of its R&D is invested and performed by industrial organizations.  Industries in Europe and Asia similarly support and perform between 50% and 75% of their countries’ total R&D. Industry is what drives the majority of global R&D throughout the world. 
  • An analysis of the ICT industry reveals that global ICT R&D will increase by 5.1% in 2017 to $218.3 billion, while the U.S. component of those R&D investments will increase at a similar 5.1% to $122.2 billion in 2017.

  • USA technological leader in all areas except automotive, where Japan is the leader and USA runner-up. China is runner-up in Computing/IT and ICT.
  • INDIA’s 2017 R&D spending is expected to be $77.5 billion resulting in a global R&D total share of about 3.7%. 
  • India has one of the largest public research systems in the world. Funding for R&D in these higher education sectors is larger than in France and nearly equals that of Japan. However, these universities are not considered world-class and have a weaker scientific and engineering publication record than other emerging economies such as Brazil, China and South Africa. 
  • India has been very successful at attracting foreign R&D investments in a number of categories, including electronics and information technologies. Research studies found that India attracted about a third of nearly 200 engineering R&D (ER&D) centers created in 2015. The enterprises setting up these ER&D centers included the likes of Rolls-Royce, Ericsson, BASF, Bosch, Michelin, Foxconn and LeEco. India now has more than 1,000 ER&D centers. 
Source: R&D Magazine.