New Delhi, Nov. Nov 1 (IANS): Indian industry lacks awareness of the benefits of intellectual property (IP) creation and enforcement for wealth creation, and this needs to be corrected, Chaitanya Prasad, controller general of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, DIPP, ministry of commerce and industry, said here Saturday.

The lack of awareness disables Indian industry from realising the potential role of IPRs despite their innovative capability, he said.

Prasad was speaking at a Training and Awareness Programme on Intellectual Property Rights organised by FICCI and Intellectual Property India.

"Non-residents filed 78.3 percent of the total number of patent applications (43,995) in 2012 at the India office of the Controller General of Patents compared to 18 percent in China, 16.3 percent in Japan and 50 percent in the US," he said.

He explained that IPRs are exclusive rights over such intellectual property granted to creators or holders, which protect their rights from misappropriation by third parties without their authorisation.

Prasad said IP protection promotes innovation, increases funding for research & development, helps firms realize, monetize and secure more value from innovations and grow market value and develop new markets.