अपना बुंदेलखंड डॉट कॉम परिवार के सदस्यों को "रामनवमी" की शुभकामनायें। राम जिन्होंने बुंदेलखंड के चित्रकूट क्षेत्र में संकल्प लिया कि "निश्चर हीन महि करूँ , भुज उठाहि प्रण (Read More)
Main » 2010»March»6 » UP slack in claiming its intellectual rights
10:28 AM
UP slack in claiming its intellectual rights
ApnaBundelkhand.com, LUCKNOW: Despite being a repository of
rich biodiversity, Uttar Pradesh is one of the poorest performers when
it comes
to protecting their traditional knowledge. The fact was brought to
light, on
Friday, by Madhu Sahni, scientist and editor of the Journal of
Intellectual
Property Rights. Stating that though India, as a whole, did poorly in
sending
patent applications, Uttar Pradesh could manage only 161 applications
through
all of 2006.
Minister for Agricultural Education and Research, Rajpal
Tyagi asserted the "urgent need'' to share knowledge about agricultural
information for the state to reap rich dividends from its traditional
knowledge
resources.
Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day seminar on
`Fundamentals of IPRs' organised by the Uttar Pradesh Council of
Agricultural
Research (UPCAR), the minister also acknowledged that there were many
potential
knowledge pools in UP, both in culture and agriculture that can be
protected
under IPRs.
"There is a need, in UP, to boost awareness levels. This
exercise has generated a lot of interest among people and we hope that
we can
inform and educate the scientists as well as officials to use IPRs to
their
advantage," said Neeru Bhooshan, senior scientist at UPCAR. While
scientists and
IPRs experts from across the country spoke on the importance of
protecting
indigenous knowledge, scientists like Anurudh K Singh, former head of
department, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, drew attention
to the
lack of documentation of innovations in India. "In the scientists
community
there goes a popular saying -- `publish or perish'. When it comes to
existing
knowledge pools and innovations, the rule should be "protect or
perish'', said
Singh.
Speaking with reference to UP, Singh added that the Uttar
Pradesh State Biodiversity Board must identify areas in the state that
are rich
in biodiversity. For instance, Bundelkhand, a drought-prone area of the
state
could be instrumental in producing drought-resistant plant varieties
that could
set the standards for drought-hit areas. Similarly, Terai regions of UP,
famous
for their aromatic varieties of rice and Shahjahanpur for the large
variety of
Arhar could be knowledge pools that could be protected and patented for
their
uniqueness. "Even if patenting is difficult, people should seek `soft
protection' for their products and innovations so that if anyone else
uses them,
the area of origin may at least share the resultant benefits," added
Singh.
Another scientist, S Nagrajan, chairperson of Protection of Plant
Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act (PPVFRA) cited instances of companies
that
made large profits by patenting their products and earning rich
dividends in the
process. "Agriculture and education are both state subjects. States
should
realise that it is in their own interest to make an effort to create
awareness
about IPRs," he added.
A book on fundamentals of intellectual
property rights compiled and edited by Senior Scientist (UPCAR) Neeru
Bhooshan
was also released on the occasion.
