JGU partners IPTSE Academy to promote entrepreneurship and IPRs

New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), an Institution of Eminence, and the Intellectual Property Talent Search Examination Academy have entered into a strategic partnership to spread awareness and build capacity in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property rights.

An MoU between JGU and IPTSE was signed in the virtual presence of Mr. Sourabh Sachdeva, Director of IPTSE, with Dr. Sheetal Chopra, Honorary Course Advisor of IPTSE and Director of IPR Policy, Ericsson India, and Mr. Ramanan Ramanathan, Senior Vice President at TCS and the First Mission Director of the Atal Innovation Mission. Also present were Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar of JGU, Professor (Dr) Ashish Bharadwaj, Dean of the Jindal School of Banking & Finance (JSBF) and Prof. (Dr.) S.G. Sreejith, Executive Dean of the Jindal Global Law School (JGLS).

The MoU covers the Intellectual Property Talent Search Examination -- an IP Olympiad conducted for students at various levels of their academic career. As part of the MoU, JGU and JSBF will organise workshops, seminars, webinars and training programmes for faculty members and students. The university will also incorporate the platform into the curriculum of the courses offered under the BA Hons Finance & Entrepreneurship. In addition to integrating the platform into the curriculum, JGU will also help the students prepare for the certificate-based examination conducted by IPTSE academy.

The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Ramanan Ramanathan on "Nurturing Entrepreneurship and Innovation among Young Indians" where he mentioned that digital technology will play an even bigger role in the future for the purpose of empowering our youth in schools and universities as well as business and industries. He said that "innovative technologies have allowed us to live in an unprecedented creative time in the history of our civilization and enabling us to reimagine a new world as well find new innovations that the world has not thought about so far. I exhort the students to leverage the advantage that is available to them as they are living in a world standing on the shoulders of giants who laid down the foundation enabling the students to dream a new future." The best innovations in the Atal Tinkering Labs came from students who were able to apply their creativity to problems that were faced by their communities and not necessarily from the toppers in the schools. Successful start-ups were able to achieve success because of sparking latent creative genius, curiosity, and passion for discovery. Ramanan called on students "to make an impact, an impact that will resonate across the world".

In the opening remarks, Prof. Sridhar Patnaik highlighted the achievements of O.P. Jindal Global University and the importance placed by the university on the interdisciplinary nature of teaching. He said that "JGU focuses on innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship as highlighted by the multi-disciplinary contribution of the JSBF, JGLS and other schools to train students. I am confident that the MoU will strengthen our efforts in teaching and training students in innovation and IPRs." He also emphasized on the different initiatives introduced by the university related to intellectual property rights -- Centre for Intellectual Property & Technology Law, and the Jindal Initiative on Research in IP & Competition (JIRICO) -- which bring together stakeholders to conduct research on IPRs. The university was also awarded the Jean Monnet Chair by the European Commission for conducting research and teaching in the areas of technology law.

Speaking on this occasion, Prof. Ashish Bharadwaj, Dean of JGU's Finance School, which will drive this partnership forward, stressed on the importance of understanding how impactful innovation takes place in India. Professor Bharadwaj said that "The entrepreneurial spirit of individuals makes it possible to overcome adverse situations in life and address challenges in business thereby pushing the boundaries of imagination and technology. A lot of the tech and non-tech innovations and technological solutions that we see daily have become an integral part of our lives. The proven IP system made it possible for the benefits of these solutions and techniques to percolate to all sections of the society. We want to bring these insights to our students of finance, entrepreneurship, business, law and other disciplines so that they can become informed innovators and socially-aware entrepreneurs."

Dr. Sheetal Chopra, Director, IPR Policy, Ericsson India expressed conveyed her appreciation for the initiative being taken by the two academic institutions with the support of leading corporations and government agencies. She said, "This landmark partnership and long-term association will bring about indispensable awareness towards the importance of innovation and intellectual property rights. This initiative will facilitate the faculty and students from JGU to come forward to help the community and other institutions to set up an IP policy which is the need of the hour." Mr. Sourabh Sachdeva, Director at IPTSE Academy, said, "IPTSE has consistently worked towards the enhancement in the understanding of the benefits of IP amongst students of various streams and for this purpose organise several activities including webinars, conferences, debates, and faculty development programs." The registrations for the 4th IP Olympiad are now open and open to engineering and management students. Researchers and faculty members are eligible to participate in this Olympiad.

Prof. (Dr.) S.G. Sreejith, Executive Dean of Jindal Global Law School, delivered the closing remarks and expressed confidence that the students of JGLS would benefit immensely from this partnership between JGU and IPTSE Academy especially due to the focus of the Law School on IP through a variety of courses being offered, and faculty members & students being active participants in research and dissemination of intellectual property discourse in India.