The SIPP scheme is the most valuable benefit in India's startup ecosystem that almost no founder uses. Under the Startup Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) scheme — run by DPIIT and the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks — a recognised startup pays zero in professional fees to file…
Indian startups protect their IP through four core instruments: trademark registration (for brand names, logos, and slogans under the Trade Marks Act, 1999), patents (for technical inventions under the Patents Act, 1970), copyright (automatic for creative works under the Copyright Act, 1957), and trade secrets (through NDAs and access controls).…
Copyright registration in India is done by filing Form XIV on the official Copyright Office portal at copyright.gov.in. The process is fully online. After submitting the form, uploading the work, and paying the government fee (starting from ₹500 per work), the Copyright Office issues a Diary Number and opens a…
A prior art search in India is a systematic investigation of all publicly available information — patents, published patent applications, scientific literature, product disclosures, and non-patent literature — that predates an invention and may affect its novelty or patentability. It is conducted primarily before filing a patent application to assess…
A patent grants its owner the exclusive right to make, use, sell, and import a patented invention for a period of 20 years from the date of filing. But exclusive rights do not have to mean exclusive use. A patent owner can choose to share that monopoly — on carefully…
A trade secret in India is commercially valuable confidential information — a formula, algorithm, process, customer list, business strategy, or know-how — that derives its value from being kept secret, and which the owner takes reasonable steps to protect. Unlike patents, trademarks, or copyrights, India has no dedicated statute for…
In India, a "design patent" is not a term used in the legislation — the correct term is design registration under the Designs Act, 2000. It protects the visual and aesthetic features of an article — its shape, configuration, pattern, ornament, or composition of lines or colours — as applied…
In India, a "utility patent" is not a separate legal category — it is simply what the rest of the world calls a standard patent. Under the Patents Act, 1970, India grants patents that protect the functional aspects of inventions: new processes, machines, manufactured products, and compositions of matter that…
India files more than 90,000 patent applications a year. Behind every one of those filings — every claim drafted, every examination response filed, every licensing negotiation structured — is a patent professional. And yet one of the most common questions from both inventors and law students is the same: what…
A patent grants its owner the exclusive right to make, use, sell, and import a patented invention for a period of 20 years from the date of filing. But exclusive rights do not have to mean exclusive use. A patent owner can choose to share that monopoly — on carefully…