Media Release
Mangaluru, Feb 26: The Innovation Club of St Joseph Engineering College, Vamanjoor, Mangaluru conducted two-day Faculty Development Programme (FDP) on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) on February 21 and 22.
The FDP was inaugurated on February 21. The chief guest for the inaugural was Kodandaram, retired IRS, Former assistant director, NACIN, Bengaluru. The other dignitaries present during the inaugural were Fr Wilfred Prakash D’Souza, director of SJEC, who presided over the programme, Fr Rohith D’Costa, assistant director, Dr Rio D’Souza, principal, Dr Joseph Gonsalvis, chief of R&D, Dr Purushothama Chippar, convenor of the FDP and Sangeeta Ferrao, coordinator of the FDP.
Kodandaram in his address said that IPR is a game changer in the present situation of India. He also mentioned that in earlier days’ manufacturers did not bother to put their name on a product since they felt it was for a social cause but the present scenario has changed. In order to protect our ideas, he said building a brand name, getting copyright or getting patents is a must.
Dr Rio D’Souza addressed the gathering and mentioned that IPR is for the betterment of the college and that it will help initiate start-ups giving our students an opportunity to protect their products and strength to protect their intellectual property.
Fr Wilfred Prakash D’Souza gave the presidential address and also emphasized on the importance of having an IPR Cell within SJEC campus that will help the students and faculty members of the college.
Vivek Anand Sagar, IP attorney and consultant, PIC (Patent Information Centre), KSCST, also spoke a few words. He explained that PIC establishes IPR cells at institutions, colleges as well as universities and that the IPR Cell being setup in SJEC will be its 20th. The IPR Cell is intended to conduct workshops, seminars and training courses on IPR. He also said that in the current scenario, when students search for colleges they also look into the innovation criteria of the college which is one of the reasons why one requires to know more about IPR.
At the conclusion of the inaugural, the IPR cell of SJEC was inaugurated with Kodandaram and Vivek Anand Sagar cutting the ribbon.
The two-day FDP was attended by external as well as internal faculty members. Several eminent personalities delivered sessions as Resource Persons during the FDP. The resource persons were:
1. Vivek Anand Sagar, IP attorney and consultant, PIC, KSCST
2. O Prasad Rao, deputy controller of Patents and Design, Patent Office, Chennai, Government of India.
3. Rakesh Babu, COO and founding director, Innomantra Consulting Private Ltd, Bengaluru
4. Kodandaram, retired IRS, former assistant director, NACIN, Bengaluru
5. Shubham Istrewal, assistant manager, representative from CIPRA, ministry of Industry and Commerce, Government of India, New Delhi
6. Brinda Verma, patent agent
The workshop was well appreciated by all stakeholders associated with the event.