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India’s IPR Policy to fully protect patents, GIs and copyrights: Nirmala Sitharaman
NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, today said that the final draft of the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy has been arrived at through a transparent process with inputs from all stakeholders and has been circulated for inter-ministerial consultation before being posed to the Union Cabinet for approval.
She also sought to allay apprehensions in the minds of foreign investors about the strength of the Indian IPR regime.
Sitharaman was speaking here while inaugurating a seminar on ‘Protecting Brands Abroad with the Madrid System’ organized by FICCI in association with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and DIPP.
The draft policy, she said, focuses on stronger enforcement of IPR by increasing the manpower strength in IP offices and reducing the pendency of IPR filings. Most of the offices have done away with manual interface as all applications, queries and decisions are made online.
Speaking on the Madrid Protocol on registering and managing Trade Marks worldwide, the Minister said that the system allows an applicant to file one application, in one language and pay one set of fees to protect the Trademark in all WIPO member countries.
For SMEs and start-ups, the Madrid Protocol is a cost-effective and time-saving way of having rights protected worldwide, she said, adding that the system would go a long way in reducing processes and provide ease of doing business.
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion secretary Amitabh Kant said that the government’s thrust is on creating a world-class IPR regime along with bringing down the pendency of IPR filings to global levels, he said and added that there is an imperative need to build Indian brands that can effectively penetrate the global markets.
The remarks were made during a seminar on Protecting Brands Abroad with the Madrid System whereby experts from World Intellectual Property Organization, Indian IP Office and industry discussed the advantages and incentives to business from international trademark registration.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
