Justice Pratibha M. Singh, Judge, Delhi High Court Yuesday said that Intellectual property (IP) will certainly help secure the economic value of sports activities in India as IP and sports walk hand in hand.

Speaking at 'FICCI World IP Day 2019 - Reach for Gold: Intellectual Property and Its Strategic Use in Sports' organized by FICCI, Singh said, "The more we protect IP in sports, the greater the growth we will see in sports, and larger will be the contribution of this emerging industry to the economic growth of the country."

Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said, "With technology playing an increasingly major role in sports, the relevance of intellectual property becomes even more important for the sports sector."

Narendra Sabharwal, Chair, FICCI IPR Committee & Former Deputy Director General, WIPO, Geneva said that Intellectual Property and innovation are now critical components for every industry, and the sport sector is no exception.

"The multi-directional growth being witnessed in the sports industry will also lead to an increase in IP-related issues, for which its stakeholders will need to be adequately equipped," he added.

The theme of the Conference was in line with WIPO’s World IP Day theme for 2019: 'Reach for Gold: IP and Sports'.

The objective of the conference was to deliberate on the growing significance of IP for the sports industry and the role that IP could play to further strengthen the thriving Indian sports Industry.

It also provided an opportunity for a comprehensive discussion on India's industrial landscape in the light of global IP related developments, their significance to India?s growth story and the expectations of Indian business and industry.

The conference was addressed by senior policy makers, administrators, IP experts from industry, academia and the legal fraternity who deliberated on subjects like need for a robust IP ecosystem for a nation's move towards becoming a knowledge economy; role of IP for business growth and success, forms of IPR commercialization in sports industry; and the need for fostering IPR culture in the sector and the challenges on the way forward.