The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has reconstituted the advisory committee on Intellectual Property Rights (AC-IPR) with former VSSC scientist V.P. Balagangadharan as chairman and experts in various disciplines as members.
The other members are S. Rajasekharan, former scientist, Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Yashawant Dev Panwar, Director, Patent Facilitating Centre, Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), New Delhi, Binoy K. Kadavan, trademark attorney and advocate, Kerala High Court, K.S. Chandrasekhar, Director, School of Business Management and Legal Studies, University of Kerala, K.C. Sunny, Professor and Head, Department of Law, University of Kerala, Afsar S., patent attorney, Bengaluru, and R.S. Praveen Raj, senior scientist, National Institute of Interdisciplinary Science and Technology.
V. Ajith Prabhu, Joint Director, KSCSTE, has been nominated member convener on the committee which also includes two invitees, namely S. Safikh, technical officer, KSCSTE, and a project scientist.
The committee is tasked with advising the KSCSTE on policy matters related to IPR. Its mandate includes monitoring and strengthening the activities of the Patent Information Centre, Kerala (PIC_Kerala) set up by the KSCSTE to promote and propagate IPR in the State and encourage and facilitate filing of patents.
The committee examines the potential of applications received from the grassroots innovators and recommends those that can be forwarded to the official Patent Attorney for filing patent. The panel also advises the KSCSTE on financial support for poor innovators filing for patent.
The term of the committee will be three years, an order issued by the council said.
