Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday launched the Intellectual Property (IP) mascot IP Nani, at the conference on National Intellectual Property Rights Policy in New Delhi.

Mascot 'IP Nani' is a tech-savvy grandmother who helps the government and enforcement agencies in combating IP crimes with the help of her grandson “Chhotu” aka Aditya.

The IP mascot will spread awareness about the importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) among people, especially children, in an interesting manner.

Speaking on the occasion, Prabhu said that protection of Intellectual Property Rights is critical for building a knowledge based society. Minister further said that mere legal provisions are not sufficient for protection of Intellectual Property Rights but their strict implementation is equally required. Piracy is a serious crime which should not go unpunished.

The minister also called for creating awareness against stealing Intellectual Property Rights and stressed on the need for participation of society in the effort.

An anti-piracy video featuring Amitabh Bachchan was also launched by the Minister at the event.

This character is also in line with the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) campaign for the World IP Day which celebrates the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our common future.

It also highlighted that how a strong IP system can support innovative and creative women and indeed everyone in their quest to bring their amazing ideas to the market.

The first and foremost objective of the Policy is “IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion”. Under this objective, one of the key focus areas is awareness on IPR for school children, as it is essential to nurture creativity and the ability to innovate starting out from a young age.