Punjab sports industry pitches for identity

Vijay C Roy
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 18

Concerned over rampant infringement of their intellectual properties, Jalandhar-based sports good manufacturers have sought technical assistance of the Punjab government so that they can register their unique designs and patents and take action against violators.

The assistance will also help them in avoiding unnecessary embarrassment and legal hassles they face when global firms claim infringement of their intellectual property rights (IPRs) by the Indian manufacturers, industry experts said.

The Punjab State Council for Science & Technology is assisting the sports goods cluster of Jalandhar on matters relating to the IPRs and providing assistance to the manufacturers in getting their IPRs registered.

According to the manufacturers, the industry wants to have better understanding of the IPR laws. The items finalised for carrying out the landscape studies are soccer balls, soccer shoes, boxing and related equipment, cricket gear, rugby balls, badminton rackets, sports tables, moulded balls, basket balls, roller skates, carrom boards and hockey equipment.

“The cluster, mainly comprising small and medium entrepreneurs, has a poor understanding of IPRs, trademarks and patents. There have been instances when international firms ask these manufacturers to withdraw a design as it has been a registered IPR of the former,” Sharma Exports MD Sanjay Sharma said.

Currently, manufacturers have no expertise to ascertain whether a particular design developed by their India-based creative team is already registered by some global player or not. They often face ire of international companies and land into litigations when they display their products at exhibitions and fairs.

The small players refrain from seeking designs and patents owing to limited financial resources. But if they do a cost-benefit analysis they will find that it yields lucrative returns, according to IPR experts.

“Under the project funded by the Department of Science & Technology of the Centre, we are trying to build the technical capacity of all units in the cluster to integrate IPRs,” PSCST Senior Scientific Officer and in charge (IPRs) Gurharminder Singh said.

Punjab and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh are hub of sports industry, with former contributing 60% of the total sales and the latter contributing the remaining. In India, the sports goods industry is nearly a century-old industry and currently provides employment to over 5,00,000 people.

The sports cluster of Jalandhar makes products such as inflatable balls, cricket bats and leg pads, rugby balls, sports nets and gymnasium and athletics equipment. It accounts for about 35% share of the total sports goods exports. These goods are exported to 146 countries, including the UK, US, UAE, Australia.