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A one day awareness programme was organised by the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) in association with the Andhra Chamber of Commerce at Vizag, Andhra Pradesh on February 14, 2012 to enlighten the MSMEs on the scope and importance of Intellectual Property Rights for the success of their business. The programme was organised with the support of the Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME and was attended by more than 50 participants from the region.

In his inaugural speech the chief guest on the occasion Shri Y Satyanaraya, Director, School of Law, GITAM University remarked on the importance of protecting Intellectual property by the MSMEs as it sometimes is more valuable than physical property or assets because the risk of it getting copied or stolen is higher. Other dignitaries present during the day were Shri Ramakrishna Narappa Reddy, President, VASSIA and Shri M Kalebu, Assistant Director, MSME – DI, Vizag. FISME was represented by Shri V N Sastry, Joint Secretary and Ms. Jaya from its IP Facilitation Centre, Hyderabad.

The IP experts for the programme also included Shri. K.N. Viswanathan Former Deputy Controller of Patents & Design, Govt. of India who gave a detailed insight to the policies, programs and support schemes of the government on IP for the benefit of the MSMEs and Shri. S. Ravi, Patent, Trademarks & Geographical Indications Attorney / Agent, who gave a detailed account on the process of identification, filing and prosecution of Geographical Indications (GI's) in India as the benefits of getting GI registration for stakeholders.

The programme was a huge success and very well received by the participants and other stakeholders. FISME and Andhra Chamber of Commerce plan to organise more such programmes across Andhra in the future.