Why Indian brands are missing out on BILLIONS abroad – INTA CEO reveals the secret to going global!

Indian’s direct-to-consumer brands market has been projected for a $100 billion size by 2025. The post-pandemic brand-boom has been enabled by high internet speed leveraged by innovative creators resulting in a huge volume of D2C brands. With over 190 million digital shoppers, the appetite for consuming niche brands is increasing in India combined with an apathy for established ones. The environment is ripe for the creation and protection of intellectual property. In an EXCLUSIVE interview with Republic Business, CEO of the International Trademark Association, Etienne Sanz de Acedo shared his key insights into India’s brand boom. Edited excerpts:

Entrepreneurship is booming in India like never before, do you think Indian brands should step up and explore global opportunities?

When I travel to India, I take back a lot of things which are originating in India. It is time for Indian businesses to stop working for other brands and have the confidence to go to the international marketplace as their brand. In India, there are ideas, investors, and creators and they are largely restricted to the Indian market they have the scope to be successful, but they should have the courage to step out in the global marketplace with their brand.

What growth opportunity awaits those who decide to step out of Indian shores?

Any company today can reach out to the world. Of course, when you go abroad, you need to protect your brand. When you look at India today, 70 percent of the consumption is domestic, which is great but imagine the potential of that multiplied by reaching out to foreign markets. Therefore, Indian companies can do so.

Intellectual Property is the gold of the future, how crucial is the protection of an idea given the depth and expanse of the internet?

Fifty years ago, 90 percent of the value of companies was in their tangible assets; now, 90 percent of the value of the companies is in their intangible assets; so they need to protect and promote intangible assets. When a company starts up, they have to start protecting the idea from the very start. Now more than ever, it has become important to go out as a brand and that is what we are enabling at INTA – as the biggest association of brand owners worldwide.

Will Artificial Intelligence change things for IP and how brands are created and protected?

Artificial Intelligence will change a lot of things in creating intellectual property. For instance, when something is being created with the use of AI, who is the owner of that property? Is the generating tool the author or the one who is giving the prompt is the author? These minute considerations must be resolved and harmonised worldwide.

In the age of massive access to social media, we have seen individuals with specific talent and quality becoming brands – what is your take on the future of personal branding?

It is very exciting how individuals with their own way of doing things are not only becoming powerful brands but also developing commercial value around them. Let us support that and see that money can be made through the creation of individual brands. That’s most important for the world and these brands need to be protected as they have tremendous potential.

Is it an exciting time for IP lawyers in India?

India is an exciting landscape for IP lawyers because of the way SMEs are growing in India and how women are developing businesses and becoming independent and confident in the entrepreneurial landscape – additionally how technology is enabling the huge surge of entrepreneurship – everything holds a lot of promise. IP lawyers have a big scope here, and they need to understand the language of business.