The 4th edition of IP Conclave and Intellectual Property Talent Search Examination (IPTSE) Awards — the first-of-its-kind examination on intellectual property in India — was held on April 19 where felicitation of the national winners of IPTSE 2021 Examination also took place. Justice Ms. Prathiba Maninder Singh of Delhi High Court felicitated the winners of IPTSE 2021 with trophies, certificates and cash prizes at the award ceremony that brought together senior decision-makers of the government, industry stalwarts and academia to deliberate on creating a conducive intellectual property regime in India to not only protect innovators’ rights, but also create an ecosystem of fair and equitable royalties to enable continuous research and innovation.
Applicants are ranked based on categories — School, University, Faculty and Working Professional. Toppers of the School category of the 2021 edition of IPTSE included Yuvraj Saran of St. Anne’s Sr. Sec. School, Jodhpur (Rank 1); Ira Gupta of Mariampur Senior Secondary School, Kanpur (Rank 2); and Abhay Kumar Das of Kerala Samajam Model School, Jamshedpur (Rank 3). In the University category the top three rank holders are Ananya Joshi from Cummins College, Maharashtra (Rank 1); Abhishek Rudra of Christ University, Bangalore (Rank 2); and Zoman Pranjal Nitin of KK Wagh College, Nashik (Rank 3). Dr. Rabindra Kumar Swaro of Jeypore Law College, Odisha and Harish Venkatram Saripella from HSBC, Hyderabad topped the Faculty and Working Professional categories respectively. The launch of a Copyright Handbook by Prathiba Maninder Singh was another highlight of the occasion.
Organized and administered by IPTSE Academy with FICCI as the Award Partner and supported by stakeholders such as Ericsson as Industry Partner and Creative First as Knowledge Partner several educational institutes, Ministries and Government departments, the awards were attended by various dignitaries including Dr. Unnat Pandit, Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trademarks, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, as Guest of Honor.
IPTSE also felicitated senior government officials with mementoes for Impeccable Contribution to the field of IP. Recipients of the honour included Mr. Ateesh Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary, on behalf of Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME); Dr. Ajay Garg, Senior Director on behalf of Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME); Mr. Jitendra Vijay, CEO, on behalf of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Startup-Hub; Dr. Sandeep Bansal, Scientist on behalf of INSPIRE-MANAK, Ministry of Science & Technology; Commodore Amit Rastogi, Chairman, NRDC for, IPFC, NRDC; Mr. GR Raghavender, Joint Secretary, Department of Law & Justice; Dr. Mohit Gambhir, Director, Innovation Cell, Ministry of Education; and Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora on behalf of Punjab State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST).
Lauding IPTSE Academy’s efforts to further the vision of putting India on the global IP map Guest of Honour, Prof. (Dr.) Unnat Pandit, said, “Awareness of Intellectual property rights is necessary for the making of any successful economy, especially one that thrives on technology and innovation. It is imperative to the building of a robust ecosystem where inventions and inventors are rewarded for their efforts. Through IPTSE, government, industry and academia are collaborating in driving IP awareness and advocating an important national agenda of fueling innovation.”
Monica Magnusson, Vice President – IPR, Ericsson, said, “IPTSE was launched with an aim to attract the brightest minds in India to know more about intellectual property, and as a partner in this journey it is heartening to see the level of interest in the subject. Over the past four years, it has been IPTSE’s single-minded goal to raise awareness, increase competitiveness and make India a global leader in IP and innovation. I would like to thank all partners for their tremendous support in bringing to life an initiative that has been met with such enthusiasm by the youth.”
Started in 2018, IPTSE is India’s first comprehensive examination on intellectual property rights, aimed at driving awareness among young learners and undergraduate students about patents, design, trademark, copyrights, industrial design and trade secrets. Since inception, more than 13,000 young aspirants have taken the examination, and more than 250 volunteers have been working tirelessly to increase awareness about the course among students, researchers, academicians and innovators across India. IPTSE continues to be India’s first and only IP examination committed to driving awareness on the need for adopting and implementing best IPR practices in the industry that will safeguard the interest of our young innovators and entrepreneurs and foster a culture of innovation and creativity throughout India.