TOGETHERVCAN’S SOCIAL SANCHAR ON ‘India IPR Conclave – From Rights to Value’

When
April 28,2023 @ 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

India IPR Conclave – From Rights to Value

Accelerating Innovation and Creativity

Importance and value of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Geographic Indications (GI) -How to protect our own intellectual properties in today’s technology driven world

Building upon discussions attended by VCAN, held at the Technology Vision 2047 workshop and brainstorming session, organised by Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) in collaboration with IIT-B, in March 2023, VCAN felt that with India poised to become a global economic power, it would be crucial to raise awareness on how to protect our Intellectual Properties.

As part of this initiative, VCAN has been onboarded on the Startup20 Engagement Group, which has been established under G20 India Presidency 2023. It aspires to create a global narrative for supporting startups and enabling synergies between startups, corporates, investors, innovation agencies and other key ecosystem stakeholders, and VCAN is now also in collaboration with Savishkar India.

In addition, under guidance of the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, VCAN has partnered with the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I), India’s oldest Chamber of Commerce, to organise the India IPR Conclave – From Rights to Value, focusing on Intellectual Property Rights in India.

The conclave brought together experts, practitioners, and stakeholders in the field of intellectual property rights, with an aim to bring a greater clarity on the IPR process and how young innovators can protect and leverage their work, especially women and those from marginalised backgrounds.

The conclave was held at the Rangaswar Hall, Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Mumbai, on Friday, 28th April, 2023.

The proceedings began with Smt. Indrani Malkani, Chairman, V Citizens Action Network (VCAN), delivering the opening remarks and introducing VCAN and the BCC&I, following which she invited Shri. Deb A Mukherjee, Former President, Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I) and Trustee VCAN, to deliver the welcome address.

Shri Mukherjee noted the theme of the event was quite fitting considering the theme of the year which was celebrating the “can do attitude” of women innovators and entrepreneurs. He welcomed all the speakers, and spoke on the importance of IP as well as the role of GI in particular, and the key role it plays in the broader context of economic and social development.

Shri V. Ranganathan, IAS (Retd), Former Chief Secretary, Maharashtra State and Trustee VCAN, formally introduced the Keynote Speaker, Special Invitee Speaker, Moderator and Panellists.

To view the Brief Profiles of the Keynote Speaker, Special Invitee Speaker, Moderator, and the Panellists click here

The Keynote Speaker, Shri. Sanjeev Sanyal, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, and Hony. Member, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I), then began his address. Mentioning at the outset that he would be restricting his remarks to the issue of Patents, he spoke on recent trends, both in the Indian and global contexts, as well as spoke on the structural and procedural reforms that he was spearheading as part of the Prime Minister’s wider initiative to promote IPR reform.

To see the PPT of Shri. Sanjeev Sanyal click here

The full Keynote Address delivered by Shri. Sanjeev Sanyal can be viewed from 21 minutes onward click here

Before moving to the Panel Discussion, Smt. Malkani introduced and welcomed Shri. Munish Sudan, Head, Intellectual Property & External Research Collaborations, Tata Steel Ltd.; Hon’ble Shri Satinder Pal Singh Ahuja, the Hon. Consul General of Georgia; and Shri Krantisagar More, the National Convenor of Savishkar India and member of the Alliance Taskforce Working Group of Startup20. Smt. Malkani also happily acknowledged the presence of the officers of the BMC’s Innovation Cell.

Shri. Ajit Kumar Jain, IAS (Retd), Former Addl Chief Secretary and Former Information Commissioner, Maharashtra, who acted as the Moderator for the Panel Discussion then spoke on the importance of the topic, setting the agenda for the discussion, before inviting each of the member of the panel to share their views and experiences.

The Panellists included:

1. Prof. (Dr) Unnat P. Pandit, Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM)
   Some takeaway points – Strengthening of IP regime, IP protection, IP for society, Intellectual asset, IP driven solution design is the future in the country, concept of IP Mitra in the country, women are social reformers and IP carriers.
2. Smt. Ashwini Bhide, IAS, Addl. Municipal Commissioner (ES), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and MD Mumbai Metro Corporation
   Some takeaway points – Different types of Innovations, Government as an incubator, BMC’s Incubator Cell SMILE, Startups in civic and health innovations, Process Innovations, BMC’s Tech based innovations, Covid managements BMC’s Chatbot.
3. Dr. Devender Narain Singh, D. L. Shah Chair Professor for Innovation Department of Civil Engineering – IIT-B
   Some takeaway points – Deterrents, mother’s role and patents, encourage students to question from early age, takers should be in place, art of patenting.
4. Dr. Mrudula Bele, Prof. of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Patent Consultant
   Some takeaway points – Role of patents in pharmaceutical, innovator medicines, pharma industry runs around patenting.
5. Dr. Prashant Mali, Advocate, Cyber and Privacy Expert
   Some takeaway points – Registration of IPR process, App based system for easy process, use of AI appropriately, enforcements and IP policing and to create deterrents, IPR infringements, IP division in courts.

The full panel discussion can be viewed here from 43 minutes onwards click here

The Hon. Consul General of Georgia Hon’ble Shri Satinder Pal Singh Ahuja, was then called upon to share his thoughts on the international perspective, on the relevance and importance of GI in the context of India vis-a-vis the global scenario, following which the floor was opened for questions.

The Q&A during the public interaction, can be viewed from 1 hour 45 minutes onwards click here

Post the public interaction, a Special Address was delivered by Dr. Rajani Kant, Padma Shri Awardee, GI Expert, and General Secretary, Human Welfare Association on the importance of Geographic Indications (GI)*. He began by noting the global reputation of Indian handicrafts, spices, textiles, and other items, and how vital it is for these assets to be protected and promoted. He also outlined the efforts being taken by the Government for strengthening India’s GI rights and the positive effect it has on artisan communities across the country.

*Geographical indications (GIs) are intellectual property (IP) rights that serve to identify a product that originates from a specific geographical area and that has a quality, reputation, or other characteristics that are essentially attributable to its geographical origin.

Dr. Rajani Kant’s Special Address, which was very well received by the audience, can be viewed here from 2 hours 20 minutes onwards click here

Dr. Rajani Kant’s address was followed by an Industry Address on the topic of “Green Intellectual Property – A Way Forward towards Sustainability” by Shri. Munish Sudan, Head, Intellectual Property & External Research Collaborations, Tata Steel Ltd.

To see the PPT of Shri. Munish Sudan click here

The Industry Address by Shri. Munish Sudan can be viewed from 2 hours 54 minutes onward click here

On conclusion of Shri. Sudan’s address, Smt. Malkani invited the Trustees of VCAN to present the speakers with mementos, and delivered a vote of thanks.

This was then followed by a business session chaired by Shri Deb Mukherjee, after which the programme concluded with lunch.

To view the photos of the event, click here

To view the full video of the event, click here

**Please be advised, the information in the presentations were prepared by the Keynote Speaker Shri Sanjeev Sanyal and Panellist Shri Munish Sudan, and was presented at the India IPR conclave – From Rights to Value, Panel Discussion held on 28th April 2023.

All Rights are reserved with the Authors and due acknowledgement is to be given to the Authors should this presentation in part or in full be used by anyone anywhere. The contents of the presentations are by the Authors and not by VCAN.

All our articles are periodically updated.