The Centre has decided to establish the India Intellectual Property Foundation at National Institute of Intellectual Property Management NIIPM, Nagpur in Maharashtra. Announcing this after inaugurating the new building of NIIPM, the Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said it will help in synergizing the various Intellectual Property Right initiatives in the country and will immensely benefit all stakeholders. He said this will also make Nagpur and Maharashtra the hub for research related Intellectual Property Activity in the country. On this occasion he named the NIIPM as Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Intellectual Property Management. Mr. Sharma said former Prime Minister Late Rajiv Gandhi was a great believer of innovation and technology and he was the one who laid the foundations of the information age in India. This will be the befitted tribute to him by dedicating this Institution to his memory.

Referring to the surge in the patent applications the Commerce Minister said the number of patent applications has expanded many fold over the years. Last year alone, nearly 42,000 patent applications were filed. He stressed the need for creating a pool of trained professionals who have a sound understanding of domestic and international patent law and are imparted with professional training which equips them to evaluate and assess the applications in terms of prevailing law.