M. Prithviraj, Executive Secretary, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST), said on Friday that there was a need for aggressively harnessing the innovation potential of the country.
He was speaking at the inaugural function of a two-day workshop on “Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) – Practices and Management” organised by the Manipal Institute of Management here.
Mr. Prithivaraj said any innovation should impact everybody in the country, including the rich and the poor, the rural and urban areas. People should understand the importance of innovation. Innovation and invention were two different things. Invention was a step towards innovation. It was necessary to protect inventions. Hence, knowledge of IPR was essential.
According to a World Bank document, India was underperforming in terms of innovation potential. The country was not aiming at high-end technology, he said.
By 2050, India would be having the youngest manpower compared to other countries in the world. People had the best Intelligent Quotient (IQ). “We should channelize the energy properly and then build to leverage that advantage,” Mr. Prithiviraj said.
Karthik Puttaiah, Chief Executive Officer of Inventree, said that entrepreneurs should have proper knowledge of IPR. Entrepreneurs having insufficient knowledge of IPR would lose interest in applying for patent rights. Getting a patent was not a right of grant given to a person for using his technology. When applying for patent, one should disclose the method and technique used. The process of getting patent was expensive and took time and effort, he added.
Director of the institute P.R. Chadaga said that it was essential for inventers and innovators to protect their inventions and innovations by patenting them. But many had no knowledge about it. Some vested interests in the West tried to patent even “Basmati” rice and “Nanjangud” banana, which led to a controversy some time ago, he added.
Pro Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University H. Vinod Bhat, and T. Chandrashekhar, Director of Patent Facilitating Centre, Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, were present.
