India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), the premier trade body representing the Indian Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) industry and IPexcel, a technology research and consulting firm founded by IIT Kharagpur alumni hosted ‘INNOPAT’- a first of its kind Social Initiative to promote & showcase Innovative Proprietary (Patented) Technologies in India. The conference was supported by Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Government of India and Dept. of IT, BT & ST, Government of Karnataka and IIT Kharagpur Alumni Association, Bangalore.
In its second edition, the focus was on addressing the practical issues in patents experienced by innovators and address specific challenges. INNOPAT, the daylong conference had interesting sessions such as Do-It-Yourself patent filing workshop, the outlook of investors on patent driven start-ups, most innovative idea contest, case studies of successful start-ups, IP strategy for growing businesses and a live consultation desk to evaluate the patentability of ideas.
The keynote address was presented by Mr. Wilhelm Weise, Head of Development Centre, ABB India. Other prominent speakers included Dr. A.K Garg, Director (HOD International Cooperation & Bilateral Trade, IPR) MeitY, Government of India, Mr. Arnob Roy, President, Optical Products, Tejas Networks, Mr. Vishwaprasad Alva, MD, Skanray, Mr. Anand Madanagopal, Founder, Cardiac Design Labs, Mr. Advith Dhuddu, Founder, Alivenow and Dr. Partha P Chakrabarti, Director, IIT Kharagpur who addressed the audience. The event also saw participation from various angel networks and venture capital firms such as Kalaari Capital, Bharat Innovation Fund, Lead Angels, Qualcomm Ventures, StartupXSeed and KITVEN Funds as well as corporates such as IBM, General Electric, Samsung and Philips.
Speaking about INNOPAT, Dr. A.K Garg, Director (HOD International Cooperation & Bilateral Trade, IPR) said, “With a focus to promote value added growth, various initiatives to develop new and innovate in indigenous technologies in India which can compete on the global platform, have been implemented. IPR is one of the important tools to foster innovation in India and help technology driven start-ups to flourish. Therefore the GOI is focussing not only on creating awareness about IPR and Government policies regarding IPR, but also strengthening the protection enforcement and commercialization of IPR through various means.
Mr. M N Vidyashankar, President, IESA said, “INNOPAT was conceptualised to help entrepreneurs navigate through the patent filing process in our country. We see immense enthusiasm amongst the young innovators of today. The process hitherto ardouos has now been simplified, with the Government of India revising guidelines. IESA has always encouraged startups to build and scale, and we have always tried to provide an opportunity to showcase their work to the industry. INNOPAT is another initiative in this direction.”
Ms. Madhumita Agarwal, MD, IPexcel Services Pvt. Ltd said, “Our PM’s Make in India initiative requires a robust IP system in India. INNOPAT is a small step towards improving the IP ecosystem by creating one permanent self-sustaining platform for promoting, protecting, funding, commercializing and enforcing Innovative Proprietary (Patented) Technologies in India. As a start, INNOPAT helped 5 startups in protecting their technology for free and showcasing them in front of 8 potential investors and partners.”
Dr. Partha P Chakrabarti, Director, IIT Kharagpur commented on the initiative saying, “The world has moved towards a knowledge based economy and for India to compete, it is imperative that we create an innovation culture in India that learns to create, own and protect IP. I am happy that IIT Kharagpur and our alumni are taking the lead in the awareness and capacity building of IP. It is not just individuals but the nations as a whole need to value IP and protect national interest through it.”
Dipankar Khashnabish, President, IIT Kharagpur Alumni Association Bangalore added, “Technology Alumni Association Bangalore (TAAB) is proud to partner with IP excel in having the inaugural session of INNOPAT. As the country moves faster on the information super highway, intellectual property is increasingly taking the centre stage. It is time, we all build appreciation of the space, and engage in the entire value chain- creation, registration, monetization and defense.
The IP ecosystem today is extremely weak and it is a major gap which needs to be addressed before having a serious play in the creation of sustainable intellectual assets. I am sure forums like INNOPAT will play a vital role in this. I wish it all the success.”
The first edition of INNOPAT took place in Pune with more than 100 attendees. The second edition was held on Friday, July 14, 2017, at The Novotel, Bangalore.
For more details on IESA, visit http://www.iesaonline.org
