World IPR Day: KISS-DU Organizes Lecture on Innovation & IP Management Strategy

The IQAC Cell and the Centre for Indigenous Innovation and Entrepreneurship, KISS-DU, organized a special lecture on ‘Innovation and IP Management Strategy in Universities for Strengthening India’s Innovation Ecosystem’ on April 26, 2022. The lecture was arranged on the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Rights Day and was delivered by Dr. Sachi Kanta Kar, Head of Marketing, Consultancy, Quality and WIPO Division, Central Tool Room and Training Centre (CTTC), Bhubaneswar, a technology research and development hub under the overall supervision of MSME.

Dr. Kar spoke about the various activities carried out by CTTC, which includes training and skill development across India and several other developing countries, along with design and development of high-end technology for several top priority national missions, such as the Mars Mission and the Moon Mission and some projects in the domain of defence research. Reminding the audience that entrepreneurship requires no formal qualification, but a high degree of passion, he cited the examples of two entrepreneurs—one socially and another physically handicapped—who have risen beyond their disabilities to put together highly successful industrial enterprises.

The youth — in Odisha, India and the world over — need to understand and work the intellectual property regime to their advantage, in order to create wealth and happiness, for themselves and for others, he stated. It is the need of the hour, he said, to rise to the challenge of increasing income and employment on an unprecedented scale, which can be possible only if solutions to local and global challenges can be forged in synergy.

Dr. Kar also explained the basic features of the Intellectual Property Rights regime. Referring in particular to the prospects of staking claims to the rights of the indigenous communities in Odisha, he spoke about traditional knowledge and creativity and various successful GI initiatives, such as the Kandhamal turmeric. He concluded by outlining the need for universities to work out a detailed IP strategy to put in place an enabling ecosystem for aspiring entrepreneurs among the students and to encourage an entrepreneurial culture.

Dr. Priyoneel Basu, Associate Professor and Dr. Singdharani Panda, Director, Centre for Indigenous Innovation and Entrepreneurship, KISS-DU jointly organized the session. Professor Jugal Kishore Mishra, Director, IQAC Cell, KISS-DU and Professor Ashok Kumar Mohapatra, Senior Professor (English Programme) and Director, Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC), KISS-DU also spoke on the occasion.