A one-day workshop on the subject of "Intellectual Property Rights" was organized by the Department of Agriculture in the auditorium of Shri Ram College. On the occasion of the inauguration of this workshop, Professional Resource Person, National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission, Intellectual Property Mrs. Pooja Kumar as the chief guest, Associate Officer, Innovative Intellectual Property Rights Mohammad Nadeem as the young scientist and special guests Dr. Ashok Kumar, Director of Shri Ram College, Dr. Prerna Mittal, Principal of Shri Ram College, Dean Academic Dr. Vineet Sharma, Head of Department of Agricultural Science Dr. Mohd. Naeem, etc. were present. The workshop began with the welcome of the guests and lighting of the lamp.
During the workshop, Chief Guest Mrs. Pooja Kumar said that intellectual property rights are a set of laws and rules that protect the creative works and innovations of a person or organization. These rights enable those who develop new ideas, inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names and images. And it was also told that there are many important laws related to intellectual property rights in India such as Patent Act 1970, Copyright Act 1957, Trademark Act 1999, Industrial Design Act 2000, Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act 1999 and Plant Variety and Farmers Rights Act 2001 which protect various types of intellectual property. On this occasion, there was a detailed discussion on patent, design, trademark, copyright, GI tag etc. and the benefits of all those sub-components of intellectual property were also told. It was also told that copyright gives researchers the right to share and license their work, so that they can disseminate their research on a wide scale in a controlled manner. Apart from this, copyright ensures recognition and credit to creators for their work, which is necessary to promote academic reputation and collaboration. It also provides financial benefits to researchers, such as through the sale of books, software or training material. Along with this, copyright law also provides moral rights against improper use or distortion of research work, thereby promoting ethical and equitable research practices.
During the workshop, Mohammad Nadeem, Associate Officer, Innovative Intellectual Property Rights, explained that the goal of intellectual property rights is to encourage creativity, innovation and research so that individuals and institutions can contribute to the development of society with their creative works. This right gives inventors and creators full control and legal protection over their creative works, giving them the opportunity to benefit from their products and services. And to promote technological and cultural progress in society, protect innovations and ensure fair competition. And during the address, it was told that the research approach is selected based on the objectives and problems of the research. Different approaches are used for a deeper understanding of the legal, social, and economic issues related to IPR. The impacts of IPR are analyzed through theoretical, experimental, comparative, and mixed approaches, which contribute to policy-making, legal reform, and social awareness.
On this occasion, Dr. Ashok Kumar, Director, Shri Ram College, said that patents and copyrights have changed the landscape of research in the agricultural sector to a great extent. The main purpose of patents is to encourage innovation on new technologies, products, and processes. In agriculture, it promotes investment in the development of innovations such as new varieties of seeds, organic fertilizers, and agricultural equipment. Companies and research institutes get guaranteed financial benefits through patents, which motivates them to make maximum investments and develop new agricultural technologies. Although patents and copyrights encourage innovation and dissemination of knowledge, they also limit farmers' access to some extent. It is challenging for small farmers and public research institutes to access new technologies and seeds due to the high cost of patents. Despite this, these rights have promoted public-private partnerships (PPP) in the agricultural sector, through which research institutes and private companies are developing new solutions together. Additionally, the role of IPR is also important in encouraging startups and entrepreneurship. On this occasion, Dr. Prerna Mittal, Principal of Shri Ram College, said that copyright plays an important role in the research field, as it provides legal protection to any creative work, including research publications, books, articles, reports, software, digital content and other original works. Copyright ensures that researchers and creators have exclusive rights over their intellectual contributions, thereby promoting the dissemination of knowledge and protecting their interests. It protects the original work of researchers, preventing their work from being copied, distributed or reproduced without permission. This encourages originality and protects academic standards.
226 participants participated in the workshop, department heads and assistant lecturers of various colleges and students were present in the workshop.