Microsoft India has launched a legal online community portal, Legaladda.com, which will offer an online community for interaction between legal professionals and update people on topics like intellectual property rights. The company also announced the awardees of the ‘Microsoft Intellectual Property Scholar Programme’.

Neelam Dhawan, Managing Director, Microsoft India, said, “Enforcing IPR laws has been a challenge and the industry, as per studies, has been losing nearly 72 per cent of its revenue due to circulation of pirated software – a menace which hasn’t been checked due to poor awareness among law-enforcing agencies here.”
She further said, “If India has to achieve the status of a truly knowledge-based economy, fostering innovation and creating a strong IPR environment is critical. The Microsoft Intellectual Property Scholar Programme is an attempt to create a sustainable IPR ecosystem, whereby we promote, recognize and reward the best of breed budding IPR practitioners in the country today. It is an investment in India’s future.”

“We are lacking in respect for intellectual property rights. Nearly 95 per cent of the software gets pirated across pharmaceutical, music and IT industry. We should ensure that the laws are in force. Microsoft is offering scholarships to law students to encourage them to specialize in the IT and Intellectual Property field,” Dhawan added.