Experts stress on integrating Intellectual Property Rights in govt policies
Yashwant Dev Panwar, head of Patent Facilitating Centre at TIFAC says India has come a long way in the last 20 years as far as IPR protection is concerned
Integrating Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) with government policies and adopting the right strategies are keys to make the country an IP leader, experts said at an orientation programme on National IPR Policy on Tuesday.
Yashwant Dev Panwar, head of Patent Facilitating Centre at Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), said in his address that India has come a long way in the last 20 years as far as IPR protection is concerned, but a lot more ground needs to be covered.
"We need to see how to build on this. There needs to be integration of IPR in government policies. Better integration of thought processes is needed," Panwar said at the workshop at Science City, which was attended by participants from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Goa, MP, and other states. Panwar pointed out that in spite of the progress made in terms of IP awareness, the number of patents filed in India is about 45,000 a year, as compared with 4.5 lakh in China.
Ravinder Gaur, member secretary of State Science & Technology Programme (SSTP) in the department of science & technology, stressed on the need for higher expenditure on research and development saying it accounted for only 0.8 per cent of GDP in India, while countries like Israel were spending as much as 4 per cent. He also said that rather than eyeing only high-end technologies, companies and researchers could develop low-end tech and file patents.
Narottam Sahoo, advisor at Gujarat Council on Science & Technology (GUJCOST), said that Tuesday's workshop was the first in a series of five that are slated to take place in the next four months.
"One such workshop would take place every month till October. Each will see participation of about 50 professors, scientists, researchers and innovators in the field on basic science, engineering and pharmaceuticals," he said.
EXPERT VIEW
Yashwant Dev Panwar, head of Patent Facilitating Centre at TIFAC said India has come a long way in the last 20 years as far as IPR protection is concerned