New Delhi: Delhi University is all set to launch a certificate course in patent laws to assist students in turning their research into a "tangible" product and to teach them the fundamentals of submitting a patent application.
This would be the first time DU is offering a course of this kind. Patent laws would be taught as a part of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) paper at the Delhi University's Law Faculty, and several of the university's science courses also cover that specific topic.
A committee to frame the syllabus and other modalities for the course on patent laws has been constituted by the university. An invention's owner has the legal right to prevent others from producing, using, or selling it if they have a patent, which is a type of intellectual property.
The newly formed committee is led by Daman Saluja, professor at DU's B R Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research's Medical Biotechnology Laboratory.
Saluja said that the course will help the students comprehend what should be kept in mind while filing for a patent as many students are unaware of what is patentable and what is not.
Many studies in higher education have tangible outcomes, but people are unaware of them. How to make their research a tangible product? People are unaware of the regulations and laws governing patents. In order to bridge this gap, DU intends to launch a certificate course in this field, she continued.
According to Saluja, the certificate course, which would probably last three to four months, will teach students the fundamentals of patent law and what to remember when applying for a patent. Students interested in science who want to learn about patent rules for their research will find the course useful.
Mentioning how complex and drawn-out the patent application process is, Professor Saluja said that lack of understanding of patent laws is the cause of the country's slow pace of patenting ideas. People are unaware of the terminology that should be used and that should not be used while applying for a patent.
Adding that the certificate course would assist in filling the void created due to the dearth of knowledge, She said that it's challenging to file for a patent as it requires more than just submitting a form; individuals must also submit a request for its evaluation after one or two days. Also, there will be an early examination. Although it is not difficult to file it through a lawyer, they are expensive.
Further, she said that the course may be offered more than once a year and will probably be delivered in a hybrid format (both online and offline). The course's syllabus and other specifics are still being worked out and the committee will convene the following week.
Set to host a meeting in the next week, Saluja said that the committee will have a plan to finalise the course in the following two meetings, The short-term diploma course on the patent process could begin at Delhi University, according to suggestions made by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in May.
During a three-day international conference at the university, Pradhan stated that DU may begin a short-term diploma course on the patent procedure as the times are changing and the innovations made in India are not patented. The majority of law schools and universities teach patent laws as a part of intellectual property rights (IPR) rather than separately.
Only a few institutions in India that provide separate certificate or diploma courses in patent laws, including the Indian Institute of Patent and Trademark and International Intellectual Property Consulting Firm.
DU Professor Alka Chawla, who teaches intellectual property, administrative law, and jurisprudence said that patent laws should be covered in all science courses and not simply as a certificate course. With the emergence of new technologies, Knowledge of patent laws is crucial, which would be a positive move.
Chawala said that market-specific research is also important as this is a really relevant subject that needs to be covered in all science courses, not just as a certificate course. It is not taught as a separate course but rather as chapters within IPR in most colleges.
She concluded by saying that DU's faculty of law has been educating future lawyers about the course for more than 40 years.
Read More:
- DU to Introduce Certificate Courses for Non DU Students from January 2023 Check Details Here
- DU To Give Maximum Flexibility For Admission Through CUET 2022; Check Here
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