WTC Mumbai Launches Make in India Series

MUMBAI, INDIA - Mr. O.P. Gupta, IAS, Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks & Registrar of Geographical Indications inaugurated the ‘World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Depository Library’ of World Trade Centre Mumbai on May 4, 2016.

Mr. Gupta also inaugurated an event on Make in India which was the first in series on Protecting Brands: Worldwide with the Madrid System and Microfinance: A Game Changer for Financial Inclusion. The event was jointly organized by World Trade Centre Mumbai and All India Association of Industries.

At the keynote address of the event, Mr. Gupta said "In pursuance of the central government’s mission of Ease of Doing Business, India’s patent office has reduced time taken for registration of a trademark to 18 months from four years earlier. Registering trademarks ensures protection of brands. Especially, MSMEs that have introduced innovative products and services in the market could attain considerable commercial success and financial gain by trademark registration. This would reduce the possibilities of duplication for which they can take recourse to legal remedies. Creating and protecting the brands of Indian companies is a pre-requisite for the success of Make in India programme.

Maharashtra being the premier industrial state and we being located in Mumbai its right and opportune time for MSMEs to move forward and register their products and take advantage of niche markets, which will make them acceptable not only in the market place but also financial institutions”.

Mr. P.S.N. Murthy, Assistant General Manager, Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd (MUDRA) raised hope that the Indian microfinance industry is in the threshold of disruptive changes with the adoption of cutting-edge information and communication technology. Soon, microfinance companies in India would graduate to the next stage where business is conducted without opening branches, which is witnessed in China, he added.

Mr. Sankar Chakraborti, CEO, SMERA Ratings Ltd remarked that the major challenge faced by the industry is high cost of distribution of loans as most of the microcredit borrowers are located in remote villages. However, there is scope for reduction in the cost because of digital banking, Mr. Chakraborti opined.

During the event, World Trade Centre Mumbai released a knowledge paper on Impact of Microfinance in Financial Inclusion.

Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, WTC Mumbai remarked, “Patent protection and access to finance are related issues as companies that own patented products have greater ability to raise credit from financial institutions. The session would surely create awareness among MSMEs on the importance of protecting their trademarks. The session would also throw light on the range of services offered by microfinance companies to the MSME sector”.

PHOTO (L-R): Mr. O.P. Gupta, IAS, Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks & Registrar of Geographical Indications, Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, WTC Mumbai and Mr. Sankar Chakraborti, CEO, SMERA Ratings Ltd, releasing the knowledge paper on ‘Impact of Microfinance in Financial Inclusion’.

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