₹1cr grant for WBNUJS to set up IP facilitation unit
Times of India | 7 June 2024
Kolkata: The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) will set up an Intellectual Property (IP) Facilitation Centre to promote innovation and awareness in the MSME sector. The university has received a grant of Rs 1 crore from the ministry of MSME for the facilitation centre.
Vice-chancellor Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti feels that it is a landmark policy initiative taken by the ministry.“A payment of around Rs 3 crore has been disbursed as grant in aid to set up eight IP Facilitation Centres (IPFCs) in different universities across India. As a sub-component of this, the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences has received Rs 1 crore to establish the centre. It is the only university from the state to get such aid. The first installment amount of Rs 40 lakh has already been disbursed” He added that the centre will be functional by June as they are hiring IP experts, consultants, business development and administrative staff.
According to Chakrabarti, the aid comes in at a time when the economy is grappling with the aftershocks of the pandemic. In the Indian economy, the MSME sector is the second largest source of employment after agriculture and acts as a backbone of the rural economy. “A large part of the rural workforce is involved in the production of the MSME goods and this grant will benefit those in need to promote their socio-economic well-being,” feels Chakrabarti.
Pinaki Ghosh, IPR chair professor, WBNUJS, said that the IP Facilitation Centre would extend help in IP filing services such as filing of patents, trademarks, designs and copyrights in close association with the National Patent Office or the Regional Patent Office and other national and international agencies as many people involved in this sector are not aware of the procedures.
“The primary aim of the work will be to strengthen and protect the intellectual property rights of the MSME products and to also help them in marketing the products. It will also assist them in upgrading the technology and further technology transfer in relation to IPR. We will also focus on capacity building by utilizing the grant for the upliftment of the rural sector of the economy,” Ghosh added.