Recently, government has announced many schemes for the startups, but it was not clear what the definition of startup is. Now, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has made clear the definition of a startup.
This is done in order to avoid any ambiguity in the matter for consideration of government schemes. As per the current definition of startups, an entity will be identified as a startup if it meets following three criteria:
- The company formation date is under 5 years.
- The company’s turnover for any of the financial years has not exceeded ₹25 crore mark.
- The company must be working towards innovation, development, deployment, or commercialisation of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property.
In order to promote awareness and adoption of IP rights by startups, the government has also included patents in its Startup India Action Plan. To facilitate protection and commercialising of the IPRs, it will be providing access to high-quality Intellectual Property services and resources.
Further, the plan also consists of fast-track examination of patent applications and a rebate in fees. The scheme for Startup Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) has a provision to facilitate the filing of patents, trademarks and designs by innovative startups.
Also, under this scheme, the Central Government bears the fees of the facilitators for patents, trademarks or designs that a startup may file. Startups only have to bear the cost of the statutory fees payable.
Notably, the scheme was launched initially on a pilot basis for a year, but the government had notified that it will take further actions on the basis of the experience gained. Now, it has announced that the scheme has been extended for three years up to the year 2020.
As per a recent report, under the scheme for Startups Intellectual Property Protection, 179 applications have been received and up to 80% rebate in patent fees and free legal assistance has been provided. Also, 32 startups have made a request for expedited examination (Form 18(A)) whereas, Trademark facilitation has been extended to 52 startups.
