Anil K Gupta

AREA

Centre for Management in Agriculture

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

In agriculture sector, the role of IPRs is becoming even more important because much of the R and D has been concentrated in public sector so far and private sector R and R is only emerging slowly. However, for technology development with in the country as well as for its acquisition from abroad or transfer to other countries, IPRs may play an important role.

The provisions of TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) agreed upon by most countries of the world as the consequence of GATT and WTO require individuals and institutions engaged in inventive activity to protect the same through a harmonised patent law within a specified period depending upon the economic situation of the country concerned. Knowledge of various kinds of IPRs equip a manager and an organisational leader to not only develop mechanisms within the firms to protect the IPRs but also to acquire external intellectual property through licensing.

India has already enacted Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Act last year. The course will involve detailed examination of this act so that we can learn about the options for seed industry and plant cutting industry.

IPRs are increasingly becoming an important competitive instrument in the liberalising Indian economy. It is, therefore, imperative for today's managers and research scholars to have some basic understanding of the IPRs and their potential strategic relevance. Provision of such an understanding is the purpose of this course. It aims to sensitise the students not only to the international contexts of various kinds of IPRs and emerging trends in the global trade arena but also generate awareness about the basic rules involved in complying with the provisions of TRIPS.

The course will generate awareness about the strategic role IPRs play in safeguarding intra corporate as well as individual inventive activities. More specifically, it will have the following objectives:

1. Expose the participants to the basic concepts of IPRs, their coverage and scope.

2. Provide some insights into the strategic role of IPRs in the current Indian context.

3. Generate understanding of issues relating to the management of IPRs within an organisation.

4. Enable the participants to appreciate the role of policy in the strategic management of IPRs.

5. Equip the participants with some practical aspects of patent drafting and reading if necessary through interactions with external experts.

It is hoped that the course will help explore the process of negotiations involved in intra and inter organisational IPR disputes so that in future one safeguards the globally respected standards and avoids costly disputes. It will also provide some insights into the dynamics of licensing of IPRs for competitive advantage. Finally, the role of IPRs in some specific sectors of India economy such as seeds, biodiversity, herbal drugs, biotechnology, , etc., will be looked into so as to understand the dynamics of IPR protection and commercialisation better.

This course is slightly modified version of the course on the subject being taught in general PGP by Profs. Rakesh Basant and Anil K Gupta and in ABM by Prof Anil K Gupta..

Grading Scheme
It is going to be one and a half unit course and evaluation will be based on class presentations, project work and final exam:

Class Presentations 40%

Project Report 30%

Final examination 30%