This week, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal lauded the GI-tagged Kashmir Willow cricket bat at the World Intellectual Property Day celebrations in New Delhi, as he announced a massive waiver for sports-related IPs.
Crafted from the willow trees of the Kashmir Valley, particularly from clusters in Anantnag, Pulwama, Baramulla, and Bijbehara, the Kashmir Willow cricket bat secured its Geographical Indication (GI) registration in 2025 under GI Certificate No. 677, as part of a landmark batch of eight Kashmiri crafts that brought the Valley's total GI-certified products to 15. A GI tag tells the world that a product can only come from this place, protecting it from cheap imitation and commanding a premium in global markets.
The bat was the centrepiece of the occasion partly because the Jammu & Kashmir Ranji Trophy team, felicitated at the event by Goya, had just made history on February 28, 2026, by winning their maiden Ranji Trophy title, defeating eight-time champions Karnataka via a stunning first-innings lead in the final at Hubli.
It is at the event on Tuesday where Goyal declared that all IP registrations related to sports—trademarks, copyrights, patents, designs, traditional knowledge and geographical indications—will attract zero fees for three years, effective immediately.
"From today, as a special drive to promote sports, the fees will be zero," Goyal said, instructing the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) to issue a formal notification.
At present, IP filing fees in India range from ₹500 to ₹60,000, depending on the type of filing and the applicant category, with discounts already available for startups and individuals. The three-year full waiver now extends to the entire sports ecosystem, be it athletes, coaches, artisans, startups, or students.
The Minister also launched the Viksit Bharat Digital Matrix 2026 Design Hackathon focused on smart wearables, in line with the recently concluded India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.