Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said patent fees for start-ups will be cut by 80 per cent to support and protect intellectual property rights of new entrepreneurs.

“Patent fee for start-ups will be reduced by 80 percent. India’s future lies in innovation and creativity. Newcomers should get equal opportunities,” Modi said while addressing at the ‘Start-up India, Standup India’ event.

He also said start-ups will be helped through facilitation centres by lawyers to file patents without any charges. Delays in patent approvals, he added, need to be reduced.

Talking about intellectual property rights (IPR) Modi rued that India was lagging behind in IPR “We have enough youth property (YP), but we don’t have enough intellectual property (IP),” the prime minister said.