The DPIIT-IPR Chair at Punjab University, in collaboration with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Mohali, under the initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, organized a workshop on “Idea to Market – The IPR Journey” on 19th December 2023 at the university premises. Around 70 delegates from different strata, including students, researchers, faculty, private and public enterprises, and start-ups, were mentored by renowned experts with a legal background and academic innovators. The aim of the workshop was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the significance of IPR and empower participants with the knowledge and tools needed to protect their innovations effectively, fostering a culture of innovation and IPR protection.
The Chief Guest of the workshop was Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora, Executive Director, Punjab State Council for Science & Technology. In her inaugural address, she enlightened the participants on the promising status of India in the latest global innovation index and how India’s rank has improved. She also shared statistical details related to the IP of Punjab and India, giving insight into the success stories of startups in Punjab.
Professor Indu Pal Kaur, DPIIT-IPR Chair, Panjab University, and former Chairperson UIPS extended a cordial welcome to the audience and delivered the Keynote Talk on ‘Innovation Unleashed: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Revenue.’ In her talk, she emphasized that researchers need to step out of their comfort zone, tread the less explored path of innovation, file patents, defend their patent applications, and explore licensing and commercialization opportunities. She also stressed the need to create an ecosystem of spin-offs among academic institutions, where students under the tutelage of a professor can set up start-up LLCs. The courageous spirit of taking up challenges needs to be inculcated in the system by exposing stakeholders to such workshops. She also mentioned the importance of bridging the gap between academia and industry to reach the market.
Mr. Umesh Vithalkar, Associate Director, C-DAC, Pune, stressed that an idea is not only for one person but for the whole canvas of society. Thus, they must be IP protected. The subsequent sessions included legal patent attorney Ms. Vidisha Garg, who elaborated on the patent application process; Ms. Ankita Tyagi, Deputy Head, European Business & Technology Centre (EBTS), describing the ecosystem that can have academia, foreign and Indian business partners, with EBTS as the interface. The post-lunch session started with two enthusiastic start-up success stories from local start-ups: Mr. Ishank and Mr. Arjun, fresh graduates from UIET, Panjab University, co-founders of Envinova. The second start-up was Menthosa Solutions, founded by Mr. Nitish Mahajan. This was followed by an online session by Dr. Nalin K Srivastava, Scientist D from MeitY, describing various financial schemes and initiatives of MeitY. The workshop ended with a highly dynamic and interactive panel discussion moderated by Mr. Chetan Manchanda, Joint Director, C-DAC Mohali. Panelists included Prof. Rupinder Tewari, former Professor and founder IPR Chair, Panjab University, Dr. Prashant Kumar, Principal Scientist and IPR Coordinator, CSIR-CSIO, Chandigarh, Mr. Parimal Khade, Manager, CoE IP, CDAC Pune, and Mr. Nitish Mahajan, CEO Menthosa Solutions Ltd., to name a few.
