A workshop on patent awareness was conducted at GITAM University here on Monday to educate students and heads of institutes in the region on Intellectual Property Rights.
G. J. Samtahanam, Advisor and Head, Technology Development and Transfer Division, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, was the chief guest at the workshop and encouraged the participants to undertake research that can be useful to society and be able to generate revenue.
He traced the history of government policy with regard to science and technology since Independence and said that the government is investing nearly Rs.50,000 crore to promote research and development but the returns were poor. He observed that most people who were into research were doing it only for publication and not interested in applying for a patent.
Entrepreneurial spirit
He underlined the importance of not just applying for a patent but also developing an entrepreneurial spirit and working on a concept till it could be used by the public. He said that universities and the industry need to involve themselves more and encourage innovation so that a revolution could be witnessed in the country.
The guest of honour, Yashawant Dev Panwar, Scientist, Patent Facilitating Centre, Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, DST, Government of India said that by using operating systems on our phone and computer that have been made in the USA we are contributing to their GDP. Eight per cent of the GDP of the USA comes from royalties.
IPR Cells
Scientist from DST Ravinder Gaur said that the DST had established 24 Patent Information Centres in various States and was expanding the network by setting up 71 Intellectual Property Cells in Indian Universities.
GITAM University Vice-Chancellor G. Subrahmanyam said that the university is moving towards becoming a research-oriented entity and thanked the Department of Science and Technology for holding such workshops. He said that 97 per cent of the university’s budget is made up of money received from student fee. However all great universities earn majority of their money by receiving royalties and GITAM’s vision was to achieve the same.
UGC Affairs Director Ch.Ramakrishna, Institute of Science Principal N.Lakshmanadas, and School of Law Director Y.Satyanarayana were among those who participated in the workshop.
