Genome Valley, country's first biotech cluster, has received Intellectual Property Rights certification mark from the United States Patent & Trademark office (USPTO).

With this development, it is expected that large-scale companies would also turn up and operate in the state-of-the-art biotech cluster which has world class infrastructure. The valley is spread across 600 sq km area and currently accommodates over 100 biotech companies, a release by CII-Andhra Pradesh Technology Development and Promotion Centre (APTDC) said.

CII- APTDC with the support of the Government of Andhra Pradesh started working on the project for registration in 2003. There was a huge need for registration of the "Genome Valley" symbol in US and Europe as to draw more foreign investments and to promote the cluster. This is a major milestone for the state government to promote the brand name of genome valley in US and Europe, the centre said in the release.

The Industries and Commerce Department, Government of AP, would be the authorised user of the Certification Mark. The valley was has also been granted a community trademark (Intellectual Property Rights) in the European Union in the year 2005.

According to the release, the symbol of "Genome valley" has also been filed in India for registration and is now under the process of grant. It is being promoted as a natural cluster for Biotech research, training, collaboration and manufacturing facilities.

Certification marks are one form of intellectual property rights, usually given for compliance with defined standards. They may be used by anyone who can certify that the products involved meet certain established standards. An important requirement for certification marks is that the entity which applies for registration is considered "competent to certify" the products concerned.

According to CII_APTDC, certification mark is any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce with the owner's permission by someone other than its owner, to certify regional or other geographic origin, material, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy, or other characteristics of someone's goods or services, or that the work or labour on the goods or services was performed by members of a union or other organization.