29 Jan 2014-31 Jan 2014|Noida | Amity University Campus, Sector-125 Noida
Amity Institute of Microbial Technology organises Three day “International Congress cum Workshop on IPR”
Amity Institute of Microbial Technology (AIMT) along with United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) organized three day “International Congress cum Workshop on IPR” at Amity Campus, Sector- 125, Noida, Jan 29 to 31, 2014.
Dr. Arvind Kumar- DDG (Education), Indian Council of Agriculture Research; Dr. Rajendra Kumar-Director General, UP Council of Agricultural Research, Ms. Kalpana Reddy- First Secretary for IP- South Asia, USPTO, US Embassy, Ms. Kitisri Sukhapinda, Attorny-Advisor, USPTO, and Maj. Gen. K Jai Singh, Group VC, Amity University inaugurated the International Congress cum Workshop.
Welcoming the august gathering, Dr. Abha Agnihotri- Head, Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology & Professor, Amity Institute of Microbial Technology presented a brief overview of the Scientific sessions that would unfold during the three day International Congress cum Workshop including Bio-resources and Biodiversity, Traditional knowledge and Indian Systems of Medicine, Plant Variety Protection, Green Technologies and Agriculture, and Neutraceuticals.
Sharing her views, Ms. Kalpana Reddy- First Secretary for IP- South Asia, USPTO, US Embassy applauded Amity for all the R&D initiatives taken by its Scientists and Researchers, who are not only engaged in developing newer technologies but also commercializing them for societal welfare. She opined that the representatives from Government, Legal fraternity, Scientists and Researchers attending the IPR Conference-cum-Workshop would engage in fruitful discussions and deliberations during the three days and contribute immensely to the field of IPR in Life Sciences.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Arvind Kumar- DDG (Education), Indian Council of Agriculture Research said that current era is of innovation and as envisioned by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Indians have to work with innovative strategies. The need and role of IP immediately emerges when innovation comes in whether it is related to process, technology or product. Dr. Kumar highlighted that IP is increasingly becoming important for large scale as well as small scale entrepreneurs operating from rural areas and stressed that there is a major dearth of human resources in the area of IP. IP is a multi disciplinary approach involving legal fraternity, researchers, scientists and Government, therefore, it is important to hold Seminars and Conferences which could give opportunity to various stakeholders for reaching consensus on key issues. He suggested to launch awareness Campaigns about the importance of IP through different forums and platforms.
Dr. Rajendra Kumar- Director General, UP Council of Agricultural Research remarked that IPR has gained importance globally and it has lot of relevance to India since India is a hotspot of rich flora and fauna. This necessitates the protection of IP in terms of new technologies, products and services. He expressed his concern about integration of non- agriculture organizations and University programmes with agricultural universities where lot of scope has been witnessed in traditional systems. He appreciated the good work being done in terms of agriculture education and research by some colleges and private universities in the periphery of UP including Amity University.
Maj. Gen. K Jai Singh, Group VC, Amity University, while welcoming the guests of honor, speakers, and delegates gave an overview of the excellent work being done by Amity University in the area of IP protection. Dr. Amit C Kharkwal- Dy. Director and Head, Amity Institute of Microbial Technology thanked the participants who had come from far off places, and the esteemed speakers for their agreement to spare their valuable time for the benefit of participants, as well as all Amity scientists/ faculty, students, administration for their cooperation in holding the workshop.
Inauguration was followed by 3 days of intensive deliberations on IPR under 5 technical sessions covering five thematic areas - Bioresources and Biodiversity, Traditional knowledge and Indian Systems of Medicine, Varietal development and Plant Variety protection, Green Technologies and Agriculture & Neutraceuticals
Ms. Kitisri Sukhapinda, Attorny-Advisor, USPTO presented her views on “IP issues for Products developed from International Bioresources and US Perspective”. She focused on conservation & sustainability of biodiversity components, benefit sharing and NAGYOGA protocol on access of genetic resources. She also gave a talk on “Patenting in pharma and Neutraceuticals in US– Recent Developments”. Her main emphasis was on the US Patent laws for protection of patentable subject matter in pharma and neutraceuticals area highlighting the requirements, recent changes, legal standards and common rejections faced. Dr. RK Gupta- Advisor, Innovation Protection Unit, CSIR highlighted “IP Management Issues and Biodiversity Act” and emphasized on increasing worldwide awareness to conserve biological diversity. Dr. Gupta also discussed The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and roles and responsibilities of National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) in securing equitable benefit sharing resulting from the use of conserved genetic resources. Mr. Vijay Sardana- Head, Food Security Initiatives and Agribusiness (Policy & Programs), United Phosphorus Limited, while presenting his views on “IP issues related to Agribusiness”, stressed on the close link of agriculture and agribusiness with the existence of society. He expressed his concern over the mechanical nature of IP regime that does not take into consideration livelihood issues, licensing rules and royalty charges for the technology under IPR and ethical and moral impact of IPR. Dr SK Soam, Head, ICM Division, NAARM, elaborated on “Current Status of Agricultural Geographical Indications in India and Role of Scientific Organizations”. Strengthening the registered GIs portfolio and protecting the existing unique food and agricultural products from different regions of India should be taken up on priority. He also emphasized on development of suitable trade mechanisms, scientific back up for product enhancement to Unique Selling Price (USP) and scientific validation of perceived value.
Ms. Kalpana Reddy - USPTO, delivered a talk on “Biotechnological inventions & protection in US, India and EU countries”. She emphasized upon evolution of biotech patent eligibility in US and also described patent examination guidelines in biotechnology. Dr. Kushal Banerjee- Consultant, Homeopath, shared his views on “IP Issues in Homeopathic Research”. He opined that homoeopathy is a widely used system of medicine in India with proven results. However, the IP rules should be customized to ensure due IP Protection and high return on investment in homoeopathic research to save this system from being withdrawn from the health services in India in near future. Dr. Anushri Gupta, Intellectual Property Attorneys, Anushri Gupta & Associates, talked about “IP Protection on Traditional Knowledge of Ayurveda in India”. She discussed about the existing defensive mechanism of protection in relation to Ayurveda by Indian Patent Office and the establishment of Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) by India in 2001. TKDL will go a long way in protecting invaluable knowledge of traditional medicines available in India.
Dr. RR Hanchinal- Chairperson PPV&FRA, Department of Agriculture, GOI, our esteemed guest on the day 2 of the workshop, talked about “Plant Variety development and protection: Indian Scenario”. He said that in spite of having vast plant biodiversity, India is concentrating on a very narrow genetic base, and stressed on maintenance of agro-biodiversity to ensure food, nutrition and health security. He presented a detailed account of relationship between seed industries, restriction of free exchange of plant genetic materials under TRIPs, and the dynamic changes brought about by these factors and their impact on local farmers. He also spoke about the criteria for registration of new plant varieties under the PPV&FR Act 2001. Mr. Mark Perry- Prof. of Law, University of New England, Australia, spoke on “IP issues related to regulation of biotechnology in crop sustainability”. He discussed in details about how IPR, biotechnology, sustainability and conventional biodiversity are correlated and use of IPR for public benefit. Dr. Vipin Kumar- Director and Chief Innovation Officer, National Innovation Foundation, DST in his talk on “Empowering creative and innovative farmers through IPR reforms” gave a detailed account on conserving and developing new varieties by farmers. He also spoke about micro-venture innovative funds (MVIF) and technology acquisition fund. Dr. Sudhir Kochhar- National Coordinator Project Implementation Unit, NAIP, ICAR, deliberated on “Doing Business in Plant Varieties for Food and Agriculture- Systems, Perceptions and Perspective“. He discussed the importance of plant varietal business and how varietal portfolio after research can be brought to industries and then taken to market. He touched upon demand driven genetics, trait specific technology, market pull and co-branding.
Dr. Shashank Mauria- ADG, Intellectual Property & Technology Management, ICAR, spoke on “Challenges in Research Management & Technology Commercialization”. He discussed the critical issues in agricultural research management and requirement of smarter IP policies leading to smarter programmes. He opined that considering the involvement of several stakeholders including researchers and farmers there is a need to develop decentralized yet empowering system for implementation of IP protection in Indian Agriculture. He also emphasized on promotion of Indian cuisines for patenting. Dr. Abha Agnihotri- Head, Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology & Prof. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, AUUP, deliberated on “Microbes in Agri-biotechnology: IP issues”. She discussed about the role of microbes in agriculture, their protection through process and product claims, patenting of microbial consortia and genetically modified microbes. Dr. Neeti Wilson- Patent Partner, Anand and Anand Associates, gave an overview of IP protection available in India and outside, the inherent checks available for protecting trademarks and designes in relation to Green Technologies, including various patents for biofuels. Ms. Komal Kalha- Senior Legal Counsel (IP), US Embassy talked about Green Technologies’ patents in various countries drawing examples of licensing and trade negotiations.
Dr. Sadhana Srivastava- Scientist E, IPR Unit, ICMR delivered a talk on “Neutraceuticals: IPR issue and concerns”. She discussed about the growing neutraceuticals market in India and its impact on present nutritional conditions in the country. Elaborating the patenting scenario of neutraceuticals in India, she suggested combining IP & product development for long term sustainable revenue generation and value addition. Dr. Nitin S Tewari- National Chemical Laboratory, CSIR spoke on “IP protection in Neutraceuticals in India- case studies” and discussed about various forms of IPRs citing examples from Neutraceutical patents. Dr. HM Behl- Consultant, DBT, gave a talk on “Value addition through IPR in Neutraceuticals. He elaborated on the thin line between functional foods and neutraceuticals and talked about the importance of patenting the propagation and extraction technologies of bio-active components, and their synergistic effects for value addition. There exists a great opportunity since tropical Asia, and in particular, India, has biodiversity resources worth bio-prospecting, and immense translational opportunity to develop novel neutraceutical products. Dr. Raman Yadav- Dept. of Medical Biotechnology, MGM School of Biomedical Sciences, MGMIHS deliberated on “Research, innovation and patenting in natural Neutraceuticals”. He opined that patenting in natural neutraceuticals is driven by customer psychology and government policies. He also talked about global market trends in neutraceuticals and their shift to the New Delivery Mechanisms. Dr. Yadav said that customization, personalisation and diversification are the need of the hour for neutraceuticals. Dr. DD Joshi- Scientist E & Head, Natural Product Chemistry & Pharmacology Programme, IBSD, DBT presented his talk on “Indo-Burma Biodiversity Mega Hotspot: Resources and Opportunities” and deliberated on the scope of IPR Tags in Neutraceuticals.