The Indian automobile industry has been among the fastest-growing industries in the world. It is the industry that contributes about 5 percent of the total gross domestic product to the country. The automobile industry comprises manufacturers, suppliers, dealers, retailers, fuel producers, and other environmental and transport safety groups. It has been dominated by global manufacturing companies namely Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Skoda, Hero, etc. The companies have been contributing to the economic significance and importance. Henceforth, in recent times, with the advancement of technologies, companies are introducing innovative techniques in the sector.

The recent trend that has emerged in the sector is the patenting of these innovations and other automotive vehicles. With the increasing technological developments, the demand for new products and improved standard of living has encouraged industries for innovating efficient equipment for long-term involvement in domestic and international competition. These innovations and technologies have resulted in the increased use of intellectual property rights so that all the inventions and new creations under the automobile sector are protected and the works are not exploited. Henceforth, the companies have started adopting intellectual property rights for protecting their original and creative works.

i. There has been an increase in the counterfeiting of machinery and parts of automobiles, thereby leading to a greater loss in revenue, and additionally in the violation of valuable intellectual property rights.

ii. If any company is creating a new product or an invention, with all the fundamental essentials of novelty, inventive step and an industrial purpose, then such innovation would get protection under patents.

iii. Designing as a whole is a very long and time-consuming process. The companies can get their designs protected and then respectively use them in other pieces of machinery and automobiles.

iv. The innovations and inventions which are being introduced by the companies can be patented so that they are protected from any kinds of exploitation and illegal use.

With the increase in the importance of intellectual property rights, the companies and the automobile sectors have started with new innovations and technologies at an accelerated speed. With these innovations and inventions, there are instances where originality and creativity get exploited. Thus, because of the increase in the illegal use of their inventions, the companies have started filing patent applications for their inventions in the industry. It was observed in the year 2020, that most of the patents were filed in the categories of mechanical engineering i.e., in the automotive industry. For instance, Tesla motors have patented 3304 of their innovations. Similarly, Honda Motors has applied and filed 376 applications in India for the term of five years and similarly, Tata has been granted 98 patents by the patent’s 0ffice, and additionally have filed further 80 applications.

Branding is considered of the utmost importance in the automobile sector, and the companies these days are getting their marks registered so that there is no economic exploitation of their marks and are not infringed. These marks can be protected under the realm of trademarks. For instance, for the purposes of branding and advertisement, the company name, Toyoda was changed to Toyota for making it more brand catcher and attractive for the consumers.

Thus, it can be stated that the innovations, brands, marks and all the content in the automobile industry can be protected under the realm of Intellectual property rights.