By IANS
Hyderabad : Genome Valley has been granted registration for the certification mark (intellectual property rights) by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Andhra Pradesh chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said in a statement that its technology development and promotion centre (APTDC) with the support of the state government had been working on the registration for the project since 2003.
"There was a huge need for registration of the Genome Valley symbol in the US and Europe so as to draw more foreign investments and to promote the cluster," it said.
Genome Valley on the outskirts of Hyderabad is India's first state-of-the-art biotech cluster providing world-class infrastructure to over 100 biotech companies. Spread over 600 square kilometres, the Genome Valley is a natural cluster for biotech research, training, collaboration and manufacturing facilities.
It was also granted a community trademark (intellectual property rights) by the European Union in 2005. The Andhra industries and commerce department is the authorised user of the certification mark.
"This is a major milestone for the government of Andhra Pradesh to promote the brand name of Genome Valley in the US and Europe," said the statement.
Certification marks are one form of intellectual property rights, usually given for compliance with definite standards. They may be used by anyone who can certify that the products involved meet certain established standards. An important requirement for certification marks is that the entity, which applies for registration is considered competent to certify the products concerned.