IPR DRAFT NORMS FOR FOSTER INNOVATION VIJAYALAKSHMI RAJU Legal Article Mon, Sep 16, 2019, at ,11:45 AM A patent right will rest with the academic institution if a student, researcher or faculty member has used its resources and funds for developing a product, according to draft guidelines floated by the government on the implementation of IPR policy for academic institutions. However, if an institution determines that an invention was made by an individual on his or her own time and unrelated to his or her responsibilities towards the institution and was conceived without the use of its resources, then the invention shall vest with the individual or inventor. These guidelines are floated with an objective to foster innovation and creativity in the areas of technology, sciences, and humanities by nurturing new ideas and research in an ethical environment. It would also help in protecting intellectual property rights generated by faculty or personnel, students and staff of the academic institution by translating their creative and innovative work into IP rights. BACKGROUND: Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names and images used in commerce. IP is protected in law known as Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), which enables people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. An IPR policy is the cornerstone of innovation and creativity for academia. It provides structure, predictability and a framework for talented minds to doing what they do best: create and innovate. The model guidelines on the implementation of IPR policy in the academic institutions have been prepared by the Cell for IPR Promotion & Management (CIPAM). The provisions of these model guidelines are based on the “Guidelines on Developing Intellectual Property Policy for Universities and R&D Organisations, WIPO, Geneva” and other existing intellectual property policies of several universities. The IPRs recognized in India are broadly listed as Patent, Copyright, Trade Mark, Design, Semiconductor Integrated Circuit, Plant Variety, and Geographical Indication. OBJECTIVES: * To provide a framework to foster innovation and creativity in the areas of technology, sciences, and humanities by nurturing new ideas and research in an ethical environment. * To protect intellectual property rights generated by faculty/personnel, students and staff of the academic institution by translating their creative and innovative work into IP rights. * To lay down an efficient, fair and transparent administrative process for ownership control and assignment of IP rights and sharing of revenues generated by IP, created and owned by the academic institution. Additionally, in cases of government-funded research, the inventor(s) /organization (s) should disclose their IP filings to the government agency that has funded their research. * To promote more collaborations between academia and industry through better clarity on IP ownership and IP licensing. * To create a mechanism for knowledge generation and its commercial exploitation. The purpose of IP commercialization is also to augment the financial self-sustenance goals of the academic institution and its labs and to reward faculty and researchers. * To establish an IP cell for supporting all innovation, creativity and IPR related endeavors of students, research scholars and faculty members. This IP cell will be the nodal agency to implement the mandate of the draft guidelines for IP cells. WHAT IS THE NEED FOR STUDENT FOCUSED POLICIES? The youth today is the key to creating, nurturing, building and strengthening creativity and innovation. Student-focused policies ensure that change is initiated and supported by students, especially in light of envisioning a young and healthy startup ecosystem. R&D facilities, infrastructure and other amenities provided by the academic institutions offer a platform for students to build and sustain a creative and innovative environment. The ultimate goal of these model guidelines is to promote student-led startups and ventures to protect and respect intellectual property. The use of these guidelines is intended to complement the existing intellectual property laws of India. OTHER MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS: * In the case of copyright, the ownership rights in scholarly and academic works generated utilizing resources of academic institution, including books, dissertations and lecture notes shall ordinarily be vested with the author. * The ownership rights in lecture videos or massive open online courses, films, plays and musical works shall ordinarily be vested with the academic institution. * Ownership rights over integrated circuits and plant varieties, and industrial designs will rest with the academic institution if a student, researcher or faculty member has used its resources and funds for developing the product. * The academic institution is free to enter into a revenue-sharing agreement with the researcher, in cases of commercialization of innovation, and creation as per the advice of IP cell.