Two items should be noted here: one is to integrate your startup and the other is to register it under the Startup India Scheme. Obtaining the Digital Signature Certificate and Directory Identity Number involves integrating a startup or a business.
You become eligible to join the Startup India Program once your startup is incorporated. In further pages, we will talk about the curriculum. But, for now, you need to understand the procedure needed to register with the software for your startup.
You can choose one out of 4 kinds of ownership models. Your choices are:
- Proprietorship: No registration is required, and you are legally the sole owner of the company. You will not transfer the company’s ownership to any other individual for taxes, the income would be taken as taxable income. Finally, you are unable to call in international investors to finance your venture. Notice that, in India, a sole owner does not count as a start-up.
- Partnership: A partnership requires two individuals, to begin with, and you may or may not want to register your business here. However, if you are licenced, you will be protected by all the laws and regulations applicable to a partner business. A partnership firm can only be listed in India as a start-up if it is less than 5 years of age since its incorporation.
- Limited Liability Partnership or LLP: Under the LLP Act of 2008, an LLP in India must be licenced. It falls within the framework of the Corporate Affairs Ministry and must have at least two partners. In addition, an LLP mode of service is favoured in India over other systems of registration. The incorporation as an LLP has numerous advantages, including organizational versatility, less enforcement, among others.
- Private Limited Company: They are registered under the Companies Act 2013. Such a company may have a staff of up to 200 employees, to be more accurate, and it needs at least 2 directors. In order to register as a PLC in India, there are additional legal formalities, but they have access to many other benefits provided by the state government.
As long as you are in the POC stage or until you are not gaining any traction, it is fine not to register the company. But the real complexities begin when you reach a stage where you are ready to register.
Labor regulations, environmental laws and other legislative standards are intended to be met from enforcement to taxation.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
It is also worth getting recognition for your product or service because you have taken an idea and built it into something through your own creativity that is actionable. And you need that protection in order to keep that light burning. The Indian start-up scenario for IP, however, is a bit distinct.
For software in India, IP rights are such that they refer only to the code and the final product. In other words, it would cover the shape and not the final content if you have your copyright.
Another important thing is that a patent application for software in India cannot be filed. What you are willing to do is get a software and hardware integration patent. This means that you can receive a patent if a programme is dependent on some type of hardware. But software can’t be patented on its own.
As for the User Interface / Experience, provided it is unique, you can get a patent. The degree of uniqueness will dictate whether you can get a patent for it or not.
