Intellectual Property related expertise lacking in India: Parrikar

Panaji, Nov 16 : Expertise related to Intellectual Property is absolutely lacking in India, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Thursday, adding that during his tenure as Defence Minister he had to face issues related to IP in defence equipment.

"I am sorry to say because even as a Defence Minister I had many times issues with IPs in various defence equipment. IP related manpower is absolutely lacking in India. It is slowly taking shape," Parrikar said told a seminar on Intellectual Property in Panaji.

"IP is an area which is an invisible border and because its boundaries cannot be identified, it is very difficult to understand the concept of intellectual property for many. In India, the field was a very neglected field and probably resulting in lot of damage as well as some people benefitted out of it," Parrikar said.

"The biggest damage it caused, is when IP regulations were not very strong in india, many of the foreign companies were reluctant to set up units here or bring in their product here because they were afraid that their IP would be copied and they would lose huge revenue," he added.