Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Saturday emphasised the urgent need to close the intellectual property (IP) gap within India’s rapidly growing startup ecosystem. Speaking at the Karnataka chapter launch of Innovasthan—a campaign to advance innovation and enterprise-led growth—the governor pointed out that while India is now the world’s third-largest startup hub, with over 1 lakh startups and 110 unicorns, only a small portion currently benefits from IP protection.
He stressed the importance of raising awareness and establishing dedicated IP centres in universities to support entrepreneurs and researchers. Citing the Patent Annual Report 2022–23, Gehlot lauded Karnataka’s impressive record of over 6,500 patent filings but urged academic institutions, MSMEs, and startups to further accelerate IP-related initiatives.
“Innovation is being fostered from schools to industries. Universities must lead by setting up IP centres aligned with the national IPR policy and by developing strong systems to manage and commercialise intellectual property,” he said.
AICTE Chairman TG Sitharam praised Karnataka’s significant role in engineering and technology innovation, driven by Bengaluru’s premier institutions. He noted that India could match global competitors like China by harnessing its vast talent base. Sitharam also called for developing technical textbooks in Kannada to integrate regional languages into higher education and make learning more inclusive.
Jain University Chancellor Chenraj Roychand also attended the event.