An Awareness Program on Intellectual Property Rights was conducted at KISS-DU on 3rd August 2022 by the Regional Technology Transfer Office (TTO), KIIT-TBI, Bhubaneswar in collaboration with the Indian Patent Office at Kolkata under the National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM).  The faculty members, research scholars and post graduate students of KISS-DU participated in the program.

Speaking on the occasion, Professor Deepak Kumar Behera, Vice-Chancellor, KISS-DU thanked the resource persons and coordinators and said that the program would help nurture innovation and creativity at KISS-DU.  He described IPRs as multifaceted tools that enable the creation of intellectual capital in the country.  In view of the 75th year of our independence, Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, he emphasized the role of IPRs in creating a self-reliant India – “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. Professor Deepak Kumar Behera appreciated the efforts of Professor Mrutyunjay Suar, CEO, KIIT-TBI, to conduct the program at KISS-DU.  The Vice-Chancellor also thanked NIPAM and all other stakeholders for their initiative in organizing such programs regularly.

Dr. Amaresh Panda, Head-TTO, KIIT-TBI said that KIIT-TBI is one of the seven established Regional Technology Transfer Offices under the National Bio Pharma Mission (NBM) with BIRAC (Dept. of Biotechnology, GOI) as the Program Implementation Agency to cater to the needs of technology transfer, Intellectual Property Facilitation of the scientific and research community in all the North East states as well as Odisha and Chhattisgarh. He described the intellectual property ecosystem at KIIT-TBI and NIPAM and highlighted the work done by KIIT-TBI in fostering individual-industry-academia collaboration. He then introduced Dr. Pritish Pradhan and Dhiren Patnaik, Examiners of Patents and Designs, India Patent Office, Kolkata as experienced Patent Officers and knowledgeable resource persons.

Dr. Samuel Rout, Manager, Technology Transfer Office, KIIT-TBI acted as the coordinator and initiated the session.

Dr. Pritish Pradhan and Dhiren Patnaik jointly conducted the program, and imparted to the students a basic understanding of the types of intellectual property, and Intellectual Property Rights, with examples relevant to indigenous inventors. After clearly defining intellectual property rights as valuable intangible assets, the resource persons classified IPR into Patents, Designs, Trademarks, Geographical Indicators, and other instruments. Each category was then discussed in detail, with interesting examples illustrating the scope, value, and ambit of each IPR.

The students had an extended interaction with the resource persons and with Dr. Amaresh Panda, KIIT-TBI through a stimulating question and answer session.

In his concluding remarks, Dr. Priyoneel Basu, Director (Research) summarized the IPR-oriented activities of KISS-DU, and thanked NIPAM, the Resource Persons, and KIIT-TBI, requesting their help in accelerating the patenting and copyrighting efforts of KISS-DU.

Dr. Snigdharani Panda, Chairperson, Council of Deans, KISS-DU appreciated the efforts of NIPAM in reaching out to the underprivileged indigenous students of KISS-DU, and thanked the resource persons and collaborators profusely. She also announced on the occasion that KISS-DU would soon copyright some of its intellectual property. She warmly thanked Professor Mrutyunjay Suar, CEO, KIIT-TBI, for the awareness program at KISS-DU. Dr. Amaresh Panda offered a formal vote of thanks.