New course on intellectual property rights

Updated on: Monday, July 26, 2010

A certificate course on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) was recently launched by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and GISTedge. Called Intellectual Property Capacity (IPCAP), this course is meant both for the industry & academia.

Talking about the rationale behind introducing this course, Preeti Chaturvedi, associate vice-president (education initiatives), Global Information Systems Technology, says, "At the moment, two of the biggest challenges in the domain of intellectual property rights in India are a general lack of awareness and shortage of skilled professionals. Hence, when we started out with the idea of developing the course, the intent was to create awareness about IPR and its relevance in the socio-economic landscape of the country. The other concern was that since the course is aimed at developing quality manpower in the area, it should have a strong industry focus. Fortunately, we received an overwhelming support from the industry in terms of faculty." Chaturvedi says that another equally important motivation for starting this programme was the lack of proper IPR programmes in tier-two cities and remote towns. "The technology for delivering IPCAP ensures that people with access to computers and internet connections can take this course. It does not require any major infrastructure investments, which is what we had aimed for," she shares.

The course duration is of five weeks. It is divided into 11 modules of two hours each. The pre-requisites of the course as well as the technology used to deliver it are such that working professionals as well as students pursuing full-time degree courses can add this course to their schedule with utmost ease.

"The course is self-paced. All that students require to access the course is a laptop/desktop, an internet connection and a headset. The mode of assessment is through online tests, which again can be taken by students at their own convenience any time within the period of five weeks," informs Chaturvedi. Talking about the relevance of this course for students/practitioners of management, law and finance, she says, "IPR is a managerial issue today and cuts across industries and function areas. Indian businesses are realising the importance of IPR as a business tool for innovation and expansion. India is generating a lot of intellectual property, which students and MSMEs (medium small and micro enterprise sector) are not aware of. This course will equip students, working professionals and entrepreneurs alike to recognise and deal with IPR issues. Also, India is fast becoming the hub of research. Besides, internet research is prone to IP infringement. Researchers need to be aware of the nuances of referring to material on the internet. The course will come in handy for ensuring that various cross sections of society work in a more informed manner."

The course covers a broad range of topics from fundamentals to specialised branches of IPR like trademarks, plant variety, geographical indications and the traditional aspects of patents and copyrights.

Times of India

New course on intellectual property rights

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