RGSOIPL – The KGP Chronicle

Intellectual Property is the Possession of a Curious Mind – Celebrating the World Intellectual Property Day 2024 at IIT Kharagpur

On the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Day, the Intellectual Property (IP) Cell of the Office of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy (SRIC), IIT Kharagpur organized a programme on Intellectual Property in Ben Gupta Auditorium of the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (RGSOIPL) on 26^th April, 2024. The programme accentuates the importance of IP in modern science and transformational technological pursuits and was inaugurated by Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, in attendance by a large number of students, research scholars faculty and staff members.

The theme of The World IP Day 2024 was to align the inventions towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). IIT Kharagpur has already taken a leap towards aligning with SDGs and has published the Sustainability Policy of the Institute in the Website. The Institute has also taken initiatives towards directing the innovations towards attainment of the SDGs for shaping our future together with the Intellectual Property.

In the opening address, Prof. Santanu Dhara, Associate Dean R&D and Professor In-Charge of Intellectual Property Rights (PIC-IPR), talked about the genesis and history of the IPR and introduced its basic aspects. He also touched upon the various IPR and patent filing activities of IIT Kharagpur and urged the faculty, students and scholars to secure their IPR by filing patents.

Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Dean R&D, IIT Kharagpur

Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Dean R&D, presented the record of annual patent filing at IIT Kharagpur which showed a positive trend over the last few years. Prof. Banerjee also compared the details of patents filed and granted from IIT Kharagpur with those from the other top academic institutions in India and the world. Overall, Prof. Banerjee emphasized on the importance of filing patents for institutional and national development and called the IIT Kharagpur community to come forward and make the endeavour of ‘100 patents in 100 hours’ successful. Prof. Banerjee also shared some of the administrative and academic measures the institute is going to implement for promoting the IP drive.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur

In the Chairman’s speech, Prof. V K Tewari delivered a fascinating and encouraging lecture covering the journey of patent filing at IIT Kharagpur. It is wonderful to hear that back in 1982 Prof. Tewari visited the patent office in Kolkata every day for around two weeks to learn the rules and regulations of patent filing following the advice of his M.Tech supervisor, which resulted in the filing of the first patent from this institute. Prof. Tewari continued his drive and owned as many as twenty patents throughout his academic journey. Prof. Tewari particularly focused on the importance of securing IP and translating that to successful start-ups to foster the country’s economy and generate employment.

There were two successive lectures first by Prof. Padmavati Machikanti from RGSOIPL on the overview of different forms of IP and subsequently by Prof. Tapas Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Professor of the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, on the patenting aspects in Indian context. Prof. Banerjee also touched upon how technological research can benefit the rural economy through IPR.

Mr. Sumit Chatterjee, Legal Associate, SRIC, briefly mentioned the IP-related activities of SRIC

In the end, Prof. Banerjee and Prof. Dhara thanked the tremendous support extended by the IIT Kharagpur faculty members in performing a timely review of the proposals submitted for patent filing. The programme ended with a long Q&A session where Prof. Goutam Saha, former PIC of IPR, and Prof. Soumitra Paul, Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, shared some of their opinion and suggestions to make the patent drive at IIT Kharagpur a more effective one. [Read : IIT Kharagpur calls for 100 Patents in 100 days]

Finally, in the vote of thanks Prof. Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya acknowledged the Director, Dean R&D, Associate Dean R&D, the speakers and attendees for making the event successful. Special thanks was imparted to the Deans and all the faculty and staff members of the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law for extending all support in organizing the event at their venue.

About WIPO

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to promote and protect Intellectual Property (IP) across the world by cooperating with countries as well as international organizations. It began operations on 26 April 1970 when the convention entered into force. The current Director General is Singaporean Daren Tang, former head of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, who began his term on 1st October 2020.

WIPO’s activities include hosting forums to discuss and shape international IP rules and policies, providing global services that register and protect IP in different countries, resolving transboundary IP disputes, helping connect IP systems through uniform standards and infrastructure, and serving as a general reference database on all IP matters; this includes providing reports and statistics on the state of IP protection or innovation both globally and in specific countries. WIPO also works with governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and individuals to utilize IP for socio-economic development.

WIPO administers 26 international treaties that concern a wide variety of intellectual property issues, ranging from the protection of audiovisual works to establishing international patent classification. It is governed by the General Assembly and the Coordination Committee, which together set policy and serve as the main decision making bodies. The General Assembly also elects WIPO’s chief administrator, the Director General, currently Daren Tang of Singapore, who took office on 1st October 2020. WIPO is administered by a Secretariat that helps carry out its day-to-day activities.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WIPO has external offices around the world, including in Algiers (Algeria); Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan); Abuja (Nigeria); Moscow (Russia); and Singapore (Singapore). Unlike most UN organizations, WIPO does not rely heavily on assessed or voluntary contributions from member states; 95 percent of its budget comes from fees related to its global services.

WIPO currently has 193 member states, including 190 UN member states and the Cook Islands, Holy See and Niue; Palestine has permanent observer status. The only non-members, among the countries recognized by the UN are the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and South Sudan.

WIPO was formally created by the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, which entered into force on 26 April 1970. That date is commemorated annually as World Intellectual Property Day, which raises awareness of the importance of IP. Under Article 3 of this convention, WIPO seeks to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world. WIPO became a specialized agency of the UN in 1974. The Agreement between the United Nations and the World Intellectual Property Organization notes in Article 1 that WIPO is responsible:

“For promoting creative intellectual activity and for facilitating the transfer of technology related to industrial property to the developing countries in order to accelerate economic, social and cultural development, subject to the competence and responsibilities of the United Nations and its organs, particularly the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, as well as of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and of other agencies within the United Nations system.”

WIPO Development Agenda

In October 2004, WIPO agreed to adopt a proposal offered by Argentina and Brazil, the Proposal for the Establishment of a Development Agenda for WIPO —from the Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property Organization. This proposal was well supported by developing countries. The agreed “WIPO Development Agenda” was the culmination of a long process of transformation for the organization from one that had historically been primarily aimed at protecting the interests of rightholders, to one that has increasingly incorporated the interests of other stakeholders in the international intellectual property system as well as integrating into the broader corpus of international law on human rights, environment and economic cooperation. In 2009, WIPO started drafting future treaties on intellectual property and genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore in relation with indigenous peoples and local communities.

In December 2011, WIPO published its first World Intellectual Property Report on the Changing Face of Innovation, the first such report of the new Office of the Chief Economist. WIPO is also a co-publisher of the Global Innovation Index.

Recent Events

WIPO, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WTO launched on 11 April 2022 their new Trilateral COVID-19 Technical Assistance Platform. This new tool aims to help members and WTO accession candidates address their capacity building needs to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Platform provides members and accession candidates with a single contact form which they can use to reach out to the trilateral organizations.

World Intellectual Property Day

World Intellectual Property Day is observed annually on 26 April. The event was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000 to raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life and to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of economies and societies across the globe.World Intellectual Property Day is WIPO’s largest Intellectual Property (IP) public outreach campaign, instituted with the aim of establishing a set up framework for broader mobilization and awareness, to open up access to the promotional aspect of innovation and to recognize the achievements of promoters of intellectual property throughout the world.

Inputs by:Prof. Debalay Chakrabarti, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Kharagpur
Email: debalay@metal.iitkgp.ac.in

Edited By: Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

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IIT Kharagpur signs a MoU with National University of Juridical Sciences

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) to organize joint academic programme and faculty support for various courses to contribute knowledge and literature in multidisciplinary domains identifying areas of studies and research leading to patent rights, copyrights and other intellectual property rights in accordance with polices on intellectual property.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti, Vice-Chancellor, WB National University of Juridical Sciences in the august presence of Prof. V K Tewari, Director; Prof. Dipa Dube, Dean, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law; Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Associate Dean, Alumni Affairs/IR; Captain Amit Jain (Retd.), Registrar of IIT Kharagpur along with senior professors of NUJS.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur stated, “On the lines of multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary development of students mentioned in NEP 2020, this academic exchanges will indeed be beneficial to generate translational research domains that encompasses both law and technology. Our law school has been recognized among the top 10 in India by NIRF ranking 2023 and we hope to amalgamate technical studies with law in a larger perspective of excellence in mutually convergent areas of both the domains.”

Apart from academic exchanges, certificate/diploma courses relating to law, science, engineering, technology and practical training along with facilities will be initiated between the partner institutes.

Dr. Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti, Vice-Chancellor, The WB National University of Juridical Sciences remarked, “Today the MoU entered between IIT Kharagpur and West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences will give us a new opportunity to do academic collaboration and research which interfaces Law and Technology. The systems of both the institutions will grow by exchanging our human resources as well as academic resources, thereby attempting to fulfill the objectives of NEP2020. We start our collaboration within this month itself in formulating some road map.”

Media Coverage:

Indian Express	Telegraph	Anandabazar
The Print	News 18 Bengali	Career 360
The Bengal Post	B W Education	Dainik Jagran

ETV Bharat

Dainik Jagran

Edited By : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

Follow us on: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur; Twitter – @IITKgp; Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
For news visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/

Earn your spurs

Science and technology can be used to create a number of innovations useful in various facets of life. Sometimes the true value of a research work remains unexplored and the innovator is unable to fully exploit the invention commercially. A different situation may arise where some other person copies or misuses an invention without the permission of the true inventor. So it is essential to protect the right of an inventor which not only prevents misuse and copying of an invention but also promotes further innovation. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are a kind of legal right which gives privileges to the owner or inventor of a work.

IPR gives “limited entitlements to eligible right holders to exclude others from certain uses of the protected material.” Patents form the most integral part of IP rights, but there are others such as copyright, trademarks and trade secrets. Patents are a kind of monopolistic right given for twenty years of time period for an invention which is novel, involves an inventive step and have some industrial applicability. Not all inventions are patent eligible. Each country has its own law that dictates the patentability of a particular invention. Further in case of biotechnological inventions the ethical and moral dimension plays a critical role. As biotechnology can be used in every sphere of life from creation of life-form to destruction of the same, for making life saving drugs to life destroying kits; undue protection through patents may affect the society or the public at large. The recent incidence of use of gene editing technology “the CRISPR technology” for removal of undesirable trait from an embryo is a live example of ethical issue in biotechnology.

Together the different forms of IPR try to ensure that human dignity is not compromised, there is equitable access to the outcomes of biological research, there is protection of animals and the environment and the research does not go against public order and morality, that is, the value system of different communities.

Even then, the questions of ethics and morality are not always easy to resolve. For example, should a publicly funded agency patent its research results when they can substantially impact public health? Should the holder of a patent over a basic research tool or a production technology issue license in a restrictive way?

“The question of ethics is very important to biotechnology. We have to know what is patentable and what is not. With patents, you can protect any invention which is new, involves inventive step and has industrial application. But then, can we make a bioweapon and protect it? Will that be ethical? Anything against public order and morality is not patentable. But different societies have different value systems. This is why GM food has gained wide accepted in the US but are held with caution in Europe,” said Prof. Niharika Bhattacharya of the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, who recently organized a short term course on ‘Biotechnology and Intellectual Property Law’ at the IIT Kharagpur law school.

Apart from familiarizing participants with the ethical quandary of scientists and lawmakers, the AICTE-QIP sponsored short term course had another purpose – to inform those dealing/researching with biotechnology about when and how to protect that research, how to transfer and licence that technology. “Researchers are often satisfied with the publication of the research in a journal but when it comes to protecting an innovative outcome of research, and the nitty gritty of technology transfer, most academicians are in the dark, especially in the smaller academic institutions,” said Prof. Bhattacharya.

Dr Avinash Kumar, a participant of the course illustrated this point. A teacher of biotechnology at the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University at Agra, Dr Kumar has to teach ‘Patenting of Biological Life’ as part of the curriculum. But he also wanted to learn the nitty gritty of patenting as he is himself is considering patenting an invention of his that deals with domestic effluents. He had earlier filed for a patent for his friend’s invention and failed to process it. “I filled up all the five or six forms for patenting, but they never came back to me for the next stage of processing.”

At what stage protection of invention/research IP should be initiated, what can be the long term benefits, how IPR is helpful for entrepreneurship, all these were questions addressed in the course. There were practical aspects too, the participants were taken through the entire modalities of filing for patents. There was also demonstration by Questel, which offers the software for searching, analysing and managing IP. Dr Veena from Reva University in Bangalore who specializes in microbiology and cancer research talked about how the course had helped her to locate patents, something that will invariably aid her work.

There was another aspect of the course that was highlighted by another participant. Prof. Manjit Kaur from Maharshi Dayanand University of Rohtak, Haryana, was mainly there to facilitate her teaching of biotechnology, which, given the new AICTE norms, necessitates introducing students the basics of IPR. She said, “I not only gained the practical knowledge that will go a long way in helping my students who are doing B.Tech or PhD in biotechnology, but also learnt about the job prospects for students in this area. They can be patent agents, patent attorneys and examiners.” The participants were also taken for a field visit to IIT Kharagpur’s STEP to show them how technologies can promote entrepreneurship.

“When researchers are investing time, money and doing R&D, the outcome whether a process or a product should bring them some commercial value. Also it has to be remembered that the larger goal of research is that the technology should be, and can be, made available to the public. This is why I thought it is necessary to introduce and explain the concept of IPR to such scientists/researchers to create more awareness and which will further help them generating commercial value from their research,” signed off Prof. Bhattacharya. The short course on Biotechnology and Intellectual Property Law ended on February 10, 2019.

Of matters strictly legal

The Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (RGSOIPL) of IIT Kharagpur is the only law school of its kind in the country

The Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law or RGSOIPL, with its long Doric columns, stands diagonically opposite one of the largest open spaces in IIT Kharagpur – the sports complex, where every day students muddy themselves playing various kinds of games. This forms one of the most fulfilling part of their student years. RGSOIPL too engages in field activity that involves a lot of insight and endurance to grapple with issues.

The law school, the first of its kind in the IIT system, recently started a Legal Aid and IP facilitation Cell that provides legal service to the needy and enables legal literacy in neighbouring rural areas. The Cell meets villagers and those in need of its legal help frequently. The cell began work in February 2018, but it has already handled numerous cases. RGSOIPL was also at the centre of much action during the documentation process initiated to get goyna bari, a lentil product peculiar to Midnapore, a GI (geographical indication). The School is committed to identifying more such products in the country that require GI tags, and using its IP expertise in bringing to local communities the much-deserved honour and protection that a GI tag entails.

RGSOIPL was set up in 2006 to cater to the growing need for lawyers with technical expertise. “We see ourselves as part of the global endeavor to integrate technology and law in order to produce technical lawyers with the expertise necessary to deal with legal issues that arise at the interface of technology and law. As such, we are the only law school in the country with a technology focus,” says Prof. Padmavati Manchikanti, Dean, RGSOIPL, IIT Kharagpur.

Both technology and law have an inseparable connection with today’s “smart” society, although this connection is not easily understood. But the connection is so important that a professional now is required to have considerable legal knowledge about the technological applications he/she is about to launch in the market or whether the process about to be implemented in the industry is in line with regulatory processes, norms and standards. Prof. Padmavati says, “Every biotech manager today needs to know the applicable biotech laws. But you cannot expect a manager to go and find out about laws. An enormous time is lost that way. That is why law schools that merge technology and law are so important today and will, eventually, become more numerous. IIT KGP is thus a pioneer in this matter.”

RGSOIPL’s focus on IP is not incidental either. Nor is its insistence that its students should be first class degree holders in engineering, technology, medicine, science, pharmacy or equivalent fields.

Nations throughout the world are keen to protect the country’s innovations and intellect with strict IP laws. As one of the fastest developing countries, especially one that has made “Make in India” its prime objective, India is keen on protecting its intellectual property through laws as well. Not surprisingly, patent lawyers are among the highest paid today.

Prof. Padmavati says, “Much of IP law, especially patents, aspects of GI, aspects of synthetic biology and IP issues in the newer domains like 3D printing and AI involve a mixture of matters of fact and matters of law. If you do not understand the discipline well, you cannot apply the law. For e.g., in case of cyber security issue coming up, you have to understand the IP address, technical aspects related to computers that only a technologist would know. Also, the reason why we take students who are BTech or MSc is because they come with the requisite knowledge and then add the law component so that they become technology lawyers. And there is a huge demand for such lawyers in the market.”

RGSOIPL’s uniqueness also lies in the fact that it is the only law school where IP is taught in a comparative mode, and that too at the graduate level. “When we teach patents, copyright law and other such aspects of IP law,” says Dean Padmavati, “along with the Indian law, we teach them US, European law” Prof. Padmavati adds, “Patent law, remember, has never been Indian in origin and the major jurisdiction for the filings are in the US and Europe. So our students have to learn the law in the markets they have to deal with. Ours is the only law school that studies comparative law right at the undergraduate level.”

The law school of IIT Kharagpur also offers unique electives such as music law, energy law, biodiversity law, air and space law, water law, infrastructure regulations and so on. RGSOIPL puts great emphasis on research. The Dean of RGSOIPL says, “The Institute has fostered the research program by giving scholarship to students doing research. We have a PhD programme in all areas of laws and some current research being undertaken includes IT, privacy, corporate governance, international FTAs etc.,.” One of RGSOIPL students, in fact, she says, is doing research on law related to undersea cables which requires a high degree of technological understanding.

In another first, RGSOIPL has started an interdisciplinary course in Artificial Intelligence. In several parts of the world, AI has already transformed the way lawyers work and provide their services. Several courts have also started to rely on AI aids in their judicial process. Since the new era of hybrid sociology demands a rethinking of the modes of societal governance and law, challenging the fundamentals of jurisprudence related to Personhood, Responsibilities, Contracts, Liabilities, Creativity, IPR, e-commerce, data protection and security, ethics and so on, RGSOIPL has structured a one semester interdisciplinary course titled “Artificial Intelligence and Law” to address the rapidly-evolving jurisprudence in this area. This is to prepare students, law students in particular, and to familiarize them with diverse issues arising from the interface of AI and Law, and the influence of these issues on the creation of an acceptable international legal regime, keeping in mind the operative trans-border nature of such evolving technologies.

The law school can lay claim to another distinction. It runs the Government of India’s Kiran-IPR programme, the only one to do so in the eastern region. This is a programme for woman scientists training in IP for one year. Every year, woman scientists who qualify a national entrance test are trained in IP law. This programme is also for women who have specialized in science but have had a break in their career for social or family compulsions. IIT Kharagpur, through RGSOIPL and its other departments, schools and centres, allows these women to go back to the mainstream.

RGSOIPL’s faculty are a vibrant group drawn from different disciplines of law. They also teach across different IIT departments, conduct various international, governmental as well as sponsored industrial research projects. The school invites several guest faculty, adjunct faculty, industry experts to build practical exposure to students in different areas of law. Workshops, clinical legal courses, court room exercises provide the students in-house training in practical aspects. Its alumni are in important positions in industry, law firms, practice, institutions and academia. Many other former students have started new ventures.

The amalgamation of law, science and technology that is seen in RGSOIPL follows from the able guidance and wider vision of IIT Kharagpur’s distinguished alumni who, given their extensive national and international exposure, continue to help the institute chart its future course. They not only provide the right advice, but they also contribute generously to fulfil each of its dreams. Vinod Gupta, who provided the seed money for RGSOIPL, is among the many IITians who have contributed to the culture of “giving back” to their alma mater.

RGSOIPL has grand plans for the future. It is radically refurbishing its curriculum to introduce new courses. It is planning to create a group of paralegal volunteers who will work with the District Legal Services. Prof. Padmavati hopes that the recently launched legal cell will eventually go online in order to provide legal assistance to a larger number of people. It goes without saying that as in all other endeavors, RGSOIPL, is also looking forward to the advice and support of the Institute’s alumnus to achieve its goals.