Course started on Friday, 25^th April, 2003

The subject is very important. Indian Patents Act, 1970 will need amendments as Government of India has ratified the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations which includes the most contentious Agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The TRIPS Agreement is debated extensively world over and its implementation is expected to have far reaching effects on our industry, economics and culture. However, the educational system and industry both are very poorly equipped with credible information and inputs on this topic. This course is devised to make the industry and educational apparatus more literate about IPR and also to find out the solution and stimulate interaction at micro and macro levels between Industry, Govt. and Educational institutions.

Intellectual Property in simple terms refers to the creation of innovations, which are valuable to society at large through the use of the human intellect. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are the rights granted by the state to creators of such value as an appropriate reward system.

Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) cover copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, trade secrets, and patents. According to TRIPS, microorganisms are patentable, so are new plant varieties. However, in the case of the latter they may be protected either through the patent system or under a "Sui Generis" system by individual countries. Patents provide valuable information on the state-of-the-art in the research area, the details of the invention, and its commercial use. They also provide a legal background for licencing inventions. Patenting activity in a country indicates the level of technology competitiveness of its industrial sector.

IPR issues are touching the day to day life of common citizens in our country. Most of us are aware of the patents on Neem Leaves, Turmeric and Basmati Rice that India had to defend at high cost in International courts. These incidents have proven that complacency towards and violation of Intellectual Property is dangerous to any nation.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement lays down minimum levels of norms and standards that should be followed by member countries for protection of such property rights and their enforcement. Existing laws and regulations in India do not adequately cover a) product patents to pharmaceuticals b) micro-organisms and c) new plant varieties. We need laws and regulations that cover these 3 areas as well as strict enforcement of these laws to prevent isolation from rest of the world.

As per legislation under review and approval in India and as mandated under TRIPS, the product patent system will take effect from January 1, 2005. We need to know what it would mean to those in the field of Education, Research and Industry. 

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