Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in association with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is organizing a National IP Seminar on 'IPR and Innovation: A Way Forward for SME's' on April 27 in Delhi. The seminar coincides with the World IP Day.

A FICCI spokesman said that the objective of the seminar is to showcase how SMEs have created and protected their IP for sustained business growth. The seminar also aims to provide an opportunity to the SMEs to have an insight so as to empower them with an in-depth knowledge. "Also, we bring through this seminar such entrepreneurs who were able to sustain themselves in the market and have set examples for others," the spokesman said. Panel discussions will also be held to debate on whether India should have a second Tier protection to accord protection to the useful inventions having less inventive threshold.

Business software Alliance is the supporting partner for the seminar. Ajay Shanker, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will inaugurate the seminar which will be addressed by N N Prasad, joint secretary, DIPP. Keynote Address for the seminar will be delivered by Madhav Lal, additional secretary and development commissioner of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium and Enterprises. Concluding Remarks will be delivered by Dr Amit Mitra, secretary general, FICCI. A large number of delegates are expected to attend the meeting.

SMEs are the engines of growth and are responsible for most jobs, products, tax revenues, welfare and healthy contribution to Indian exports and development. A healthy SME sector is, therefore, crucial for the economy and socially sustainable development of the country. It is a unanimous belief that SME-innovation describes new ways and concepts for the successful innovation in the 21st century. It is now established that new business can be generated without taking high risks.

It is in this backdrop, FICCI in association with DIPP is organizing the one day interactive debate on 'IPR and Innovation: A Way Forward for SME's'.