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IPRs as a Tool for Empowerment of Small Entrepreneurs, Artisans & Craftsmen

Rasika Gokhale Athawale
May 2010

Most of the MSMEs in India, despite their key role in the national productivity have failed to make an intelligent use of the IPR largely because of the absence of IPR awareness. The government efforts have been lackluster in making the MSMEs understand the importance of IP Rights which can make them (SMEs) more competitive and add value to their businesses.

Majority of the professionals in the country are not well-aware about the IPR protection and this veil of anonymity is thicker in case of micro and small enterprises. Micro and small enterprises, generally, are more vulnerable to violation of IPR laws in comparison to large corporate who do have means and the resources to monitor and safeguard their interests and act in alacrity in case of infringement of their trademark, copyright, patent rights etc.

While in case of SMEs, they are not even well versed with IPR protection and its benefits though the number of infringement cases is high in the sector. Their anonymity for IPR protections causes heavy financial losses. The ignorance is so stark that they don't even know the extent of loss they are suffering.

Manisha Gupta, IPR trainer and consultant and faculty of 'IPRs & Branding' at (NCDPD) a centre of Ministry of Textiles, in a formal discussion with SME WORLD stresses on the need for awareness about the IPR protections especially in globalised world economy. She says, “SMEs in India are not aware of IPRs and how they can benefit from these. The need of the day, first of all, is to make them aware about it. They should know what they are losing by not protecting their Intellectual Property Rights.”

Creativity Sold for a Song

Manisha underlines the urgent need for IPR (awareness and ) protection for the 'benefit of millions of small invisible entrepreneurs whose creativity is being sold for a song for long now. “India is a country of diversity and creativity is spread all around. IPRs is a ray of hope for protecting the knowledge and creativity of the invisible millions who are living in abject poverty in the vast rural belts of the country.” Manisha says that IPR can be a big tool for poverty alleviation also. “The situation seems hopeful now that we also have a Geographical Indications Act in place.”

Although Indian industry in many industry verticals like pharma, IT, ICT, entertainment, bio-technology and textiles, are doing well. Numerous new products are being launched every day. “The Indian professionals should also know about the IPR laws and their rights and should realize that these laws are for them, for their growth and in terms of the popularity that their innovations are gaining and which eventually become a rewarding avenues,” says Manisha, “Generic versions of x brands always hit the market immediately and generate more revenues than those by the original ones.The prime factor behind the demand of the generic versions is increased margins for retailers but in the process the original brand stands to lose. So the original producers should also know how to safeguard their brand from piracy.”

The Deepening Gap

In fact the original producers of the popular items do not get a fair market price. Mediators or x middlemen play a key role in the whole process - from production to consumption - and the gap deepens when it comes to poor, uneducated or less educated artisans.

According to her, India has a number of traditional arts & crafts that are world famous, but the x artisans making x these handicrafts often don't get their actual price. The mediators get maximum margin and in some cases, the mediators also act as original producers throwing the actual producers in the backdrop. They tend to treat artisans as labour for their products. It is mainly because artisans don't know what wealth of creativity they possess and are sadly unaware of the returns they are entitled to. This exploitation stems from their ignorance about the fact that this creativity can be protected through certain mechanisms.

Manisha says a fool-proof mechanism to spread the awareness and ensuing benefits from IPRs is yet to be evolved. But the government is equipped to perform this gigantic task as there are schemes and related laws which need effective implementation.” Manisha agrees that the schemes for IPR protection are good and workable but the process of their effective implementation and a framework for the same is missing, by and large.

South India Shows the Way

“It is heartening that people x down South are taking it more seriously. Awareness is spreading in many places and they are very keen to safeguard their traditional products, creativity and misuse of brand names while the case is not so prominent in the northern region.”

According to her, apart from the other issues, availability of finance is a major hurdle. Moving against x the infringers involves money. In India, generally, a micro and small enterprise are being run by individuals who have little time and means to take upon the responsibility of suing the infringers. “We must have some kind of scheme to encourage the small producers and help them to pursue cases of infringements involving little time and resources on their part.”

Intellectual property rights have been defined for different industry segments and verticals according to the need. There is a whole range of IP rights but people generally think in terms of Patents. The various IPRs apart from Patents are Trade Marks, Industrial Designs, Trade Secrets, Copyrights, and Geographical Indications etc.

Basically all IP rights are individual oriented but the Geographical Indications tool is community oriented. It protects various products which have a link with their region or origin and confers rights on the entire community of producers of those products.)

Land of Traditions & Knowledge

India is a land of traditions and knowledge gained over centuries unknown. A land of diverse cultures, India forming a mammoth 15% of the world population is a nation like no other in this universe.

Our traditional knowledge is an integral part of our cultural identity. From time immemorial, the traditional knowledge has been playing a vital role in our daily lives. With majority of Indians living in the sprawling rural belts, traditional knowledge has become essential to our very survival.

Geographical indications, in recent years, have emerged as a significant IPR issue in India. Indian GI Act came into force on 15 September 2003, and since more than a hundred Indian products have been registered as GIs.

However, realization of the potential benefits ingrained in GIs is beset with several practical challenges confronting the stakeholders in India.

Unless an institutional mechanism is developed to be in place to ensure that a fair share of the benefits accruing from the GI status of a product reaches the actual producers/artisans downstream in the supply chain, little could be done in the area considering the potential of the vast traditional and knowledge market across the length and breadth of the country.

Relevant Act

Manisha cites the example of Darjeeling Tea which is the first registered GI in India heralding the enactment of the GI Act in India. So far 117 GIs have been registered. “The brand name “Darjeeling Tea” was being misused in many countries and the returns to the original tea growers were being diverted because of this. But since the Geographical Indications Act of Dec-1999 which began implementation in 2003, “Darjeeling Tea” has been registered and this gives the product better protection and legally secure ground to take action against the infringers. Misuse of the brand name “Darjeeling Tea” now becomes risky.”

Manisha gives another fine example of “Kota Doria” fabric & sarees that originate in the Kota district of Rajasthan.

She says, “Kotadoria Sarees can be another fine example of GIs. These sarees which are the original product of Kota,and are handwoven, were also being made in Gujarat and some places on powerloom and sold as Kotadoria. The original makers of these sarees were at a loss but after its registration as GI situation have improved. Now the original producers are getting more orders on more competitive rates. In short, the artisans are now getting the value they deserve for their brand.”

Some other major GIs registered are “Pochampalli Ikat”, “Mysore silk”, “Mysore sandal Soap”, “Lucknow Chikan craft”, “Goa Feni”, Banarasi Brocades & sarees” etc.

“In India GI tool of IPR has enormous significance. There could be numerous GIs registered as India is full of diversity. In every region there is something popular which should be registered. But the communities producing these products don't know about how they can use this tool to improve their trade and economic viability, says Manisha.

GIs are used to identify three kinds of goods : naturally grown, agricultural produces and manufactured goods.

India is rich in traditional handicrafts and handlooms. No wonder, the maximum number of GIs registered are from this sector.

Digital Library

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has formed a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) to prevent the misappropriation of Traditional Knowledge of India at international patent offices so that the cases on bio-piracy such as Turmeric and Neem could be prevented. Traditional knowledge existing in local languages such as Sanskrit, Urdu, Arabic, Persian and Tamil is converted into five international languages English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese in patent application format. Thus TKDL breaks the language and format barriers, makes the knowledge available to patent examiners in their own language and in a format which is easily understandable by them. “TKDL on Ayurveda has been made and one on Yoga is in the process ” informs Manisha.

It is high time we make our entrepreneurs, especially the micro and small, know their rights and safeguard their interests by effectively using the IPR tools. “Afterall, we have not gained our knowledge in a day. It took us unknown centuries to emulate the traditions we are so proud of. It is sheer shame that our artisans who are the actual perpetuators of Indian Arts and crafts knowledge are suffering in poverty and penury,” quips Manisha.

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