![Indian Institute of Technology [IIT], Delhi](https://blogs.lawships.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/download.jpeg "JOB POST: Professors at Indian Institute of Technology [IIT], Delhi: Applications Open")
Date
11th December 2016
Time
2:00 – 5:00 pm
Venue
Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, New Delhi
About
“It has been my long-standing conviction that India is like a donkey carrying a sack of gold – the donkey does not know what it is carrying but is content to go along with the load on its back. The load of gold is the fantastic treasure – in arts, literature, culture, and some sciences like Ayurvedic medicine – which we have inherited from the days of the splendor that was India.”- Late Nani Palkhiwala Eminent Jurist
The year 2016 has been remarkable for India. The National IPR policy has been formulated with the ambitious vision to create –
· An India where creativity and innovation are stimulated by intellectual property for the benefit of all;
· An India where intellectual property promotes advancement in science and technology, arts and culture, traditional knowledge and biodiversity resources;
· An India where knowledge is the main driver of development; and
· An India where knowledge owned is transformed into knowledge shared.
Proclaiming itself as a knowledge-driven economy in the 21st century may give a boost to the brand that is India, but what about that which makes such branding possible?
As a global symbol of diversity, India needs no introduction when it comes to its wealth of knowledge in the fields of science and technology, medicine, agriculture, arts and craft etc. However, we have been lagging behind in terms of acknowledging the intellectual property rights accorded to those communities and/or individuals, from whom such knowledge has stood the test of time to survive to this day.
Such communities are victims of our inexcusable ignorance as is evidenced by our despicable treatment of them in our ‘modern’ society. Their lifestyles and practices have often been frowned upon and they have, more often than not, gone unnoticed in the bigger picture in the development scene in our country.
The lack of awareness about their rights has led to these communities dying out without having received their due credit. Lack of access to basic facilities has resulted in mass migration of such communities from their ancestral homes to urban areas for supporting themselves and their families by doing menial jobs.
Valuable human resources are lost in the process and the cultural heritage of India suffers due to our blatant disregard for these communities. This is ironic because it is their knowledge that historically and thus factually, what makes ‘brand India’ possible.
Civil society organizations in India have time and again proven that they are up for a challenge when it comes to stepping up for the rights of the vulnerable and the marginalized. With their ever-widening scope of work, intervention on their behalf in the field of intellectual property is necessary to protect the rights of those local communities who are responsible for generating and keeping alive practices, which would come under the umbrella term of ‘traditional knowledge’, in India.
This intervention is the need of the hour as such traditional knowledge is being forgotten with time or being misused by people in power for commercial needs.
With this in mind, this workshop is being organized to introduce all stakeholders, with a bottom-top-bottom approach, to intellectual property rights and their role in protecting our indigenous communities’ rights to their traditional knowledge in various fields, in furtherance of not only achieving the goal of a creative and innovative India, while understanding these communities and their way of life, but also acknowledging them in a way that they’ve always deserved, yet have been denied for centuries.
This will also provide us with an opportunity to address the gap with policy making and contributions done by NGOs in this area and the lived realities of people owing traditional knowledge, which may be under constant threat of misappropriation or extinction.
The workshop will involve sessions on the following topics:
i. Situating the Legal Framework of Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property in India: A Primer – Yogesh Pai, Assistant Professor, NLU, Delhi
ii. Traditional Knowledge and Associated Genetic Resources (TKGRs) – Bio-piracy or Bio-Prospecting? Some experience from lived realities- Ms. Neeti Wilson, Anand and Anand (TBC)
iii. Benefit Sharing- The Indian Experience: Kanchi Kohli Legal Research Director, Namati (TBC)
iv. Patenting Traditional Knowledge: Defensive and Offensive Protection Against Misappropriation – Mr. T. C. James, Director, NIPO
v. Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property: Role of Civil Society in filling the Gaps – Ms. Shalini Bhutani, Independent activist.
Registration Fee
Rs. 500 per person
Payment Procedure
The requisite amount should be paid by Cheque or Demand Draft to –
Bank Name :- State Bank of India
Bank Branch :- Shikhar Apartments, Satellite Branch, Ahmedabad
Account Name :- IDEAL CSJ LEGAL FUND
Account Number :- 30578973762
IFSC Code :- SBIN0060388
Click HERE to register.
Deadline
Registrations are open till 6th December, 2016
The hard copy of the Cheque or Demand Draft should be submitted at the registration desk at the above-mentioned event venue on 11th December, 2016 before 01.00 pm.
All registered participants will be contacted via email to follow up and acknowledge receipt of their payment.
No on-the-spot registrations will be entertained.
