C-DAC and CII organizes Conference on...

New Delhi
April 21, 2011

C-DAC and CII organizes Conference on "ICT-IPR Trends and Challenges in S World"

Dr. Debashis Dutta,Group Co-ordinator, R&D in IT, DeitY MC&IT, Government of India inaugurated the one-day Conference on “ICT-IPR Trends and Challenges in Globalised World” at India Habitat Center, New Delhi today. The conference was organized by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), under the patronage of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Ministry of Communications and IT (MC&IT), Government of India.

Shri. P H Kurian, IAS, Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trademarks, Government of India was the Guest of Honor and delivered the keynote address. Also present on the occasion were, Shri Anjan Das, Executive Director –Technology,Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Shri Rajan T. Joseph, Director General, C-DAC and Dr. Hemant Darbari, Executive Director, C-DAC, Pune.

The main objective of the conference was to discuss issues and methodologies so that the Indian ICT community especially SME’s and Researchers get updated, and are empowered to meet the challenges of the present innovation based global economic ecosystem. The conference also aimed at building greater awareness and developing insights into the complex mechanism of creation, ownership and protection of Intellectual Property (IP).

Delivering the inaugural address, Dr. Debashis Dutta, stressed the importance of IP which is a topic close to safeguarding India’s intellectual property. India, he stressed, has a vast treasure-house of knowledge and intellectual resources. Unluckily due to a lack of adequate knowledge of patents and Copyright laws, this intellectual property cannot be protected. The Portal designed by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in close collaboration with C-DAC GIST is a bold step in this regard. Providing know how and advice regarding IPR and that too at a fraction of a cost, the interactive portal will go a long way in encouraging inventors, scientists, researchers as well as the vast pool of academicians in furthering India’s intellectual property and placing our country on the Technological map of the world. The conference would, according to the Minister, go a long way in creating the right atmosphere for synergy between Industry and academia.

Shri. P. H. Kurian in his keynote address added that, “the task of protecting IP involves a lot of complexity as it entails the encapsulation of an idea or innovation that transcends both the legal and technical domain. This requires specially trained manpower that can deal with the legal issues pertaining to IP, as well as be familiar with technology to ensure that there are no loopholes arising out of jargon or processes. IP is not just about filing an application, and individuals and organizations must understand the legal process involved to effectively protect it. One single IP can open up the doors to multiple verticals, and if that is not taken into account, all may be lost. Thankfully, IPR has become a part of the legal curriculum today and several legal professionals are entering this area for its potential. This is a positive sign for the IPR domain, and I am sure that everybody will benefit in the long run”.

Talking about the DeitY’s initiatives for IPR, Dr. Debashis Dutta commented that, “IPR protection is a vital imperative to ensure the growth of the IT industry in India. It also has a direct impact on the way Indian IT companies transact their business with the rest of the world. As an established leader in software development and a global hub for IT services, we must be able to protect our IP if we are to remain on top of the industry rankings. To ensure our leadership position, the IP that is generated must be protected. The Ministry of Communications and IT has undertaken several initiatives to promote the cause of IPR protection, and it is very heartening to see the Indian IT industry reciprocate positively to our efforts”.

Throwing more light on the industry perspective, Shri Anjan Das, added that “both the portal as well as the meet was in the right direction. India, with its large pool of Intellectual resource should be one of the leading holders of patents. The steps taken by the Ministry to spread awareness of patents and also encourage the growth of Intellectual Property will place our country on the map of the world’s leading nations in patents”.

Earlier, Shri Rajan T. Joseph, Director General, C-DAC had delivered the welcome address. In his address, Shri Joseph said that the “creation of the Portal for IPR will go a long way in protecting our Intellectual rights. It is a right step forward in protecting our valuable Intellectual property rights. I am sure that the meet would create a favourable atmosphere of convergence between Industry and researchers and encourage more and more people to come forward to file patents and enrich India’s Intellectual property rights”.

The conference witnessed an active participation of Academicians, Researchers, IPR Professionals, SME’s, Start-Ups and Executives involved in IP creation, Management, Technology Transfer & Licensing issues in ICT domain. Eminent authorities from the IPR domain such as Dr. Prabuddha Ganguli, CEO, Vision IPR, Ms. Archana Shanker, Sr. Partner & Head-Patents, Anand & Anand, New Delhi, Shri.Keshav S Dhakad, Chair, BSAIndia, & Director - IPR & License Compliance, Microsoft India, Dr. Anindya Sarkar, Head - IP Cell, Infosys Technologies Ltd., India, Shri. Phil Wadsworth, VP, Legal Counsel, Qualcomm Inc, Dr. AK Garg, Additional Director, DeitY, Ministry for Communications & Information Technology, India, Shri. R Saha, Head, PFC, TIFAC, Shri. Rajeev Vaishnav, VP, Outreach, NASSCOM, Ms. Chandini Raina, Director, DIPP, Ms. Mishi Choudhary, Executive Director, Software Freedom Law Centre, Ms. Geeta Kathpalia, HoD Patents & IPR Division, DeitY, Ministry for Communications & Information Technology, India, Shri. R Y Deshpande, Head-Legal, Contract & Quality, C-DAC, Pune along with representatives from United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO), and others, addressed the participants on the myriad facets of IPR with the ways and means to protect them.

Dr Hemant Darbari delivered the vote of thanks.

The event was coordinated by the GIST Group and the Legal Department of C-DAC.

For more information, please contact:

Dr. A. K. Garg Director,
Patent & IPR Division, R&D (IT) Group,
Ministry of Communications & Information Technology,
Government of India, Electronics Niketan,6, CGO Complex,
New Delhi – 110 003.