Thiruvananthapuram: Many have expressed a pressing need for more people, irrespective of their gender, who are literate in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). However, the National IPR Policy published in May 2016 states the following as one of its objectives: “Encourage and support capacity building among Women Creators, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, Practitioners, Teachers and Trainers.”
Former CSIR-NIIST director A. D. Damodaran, while delivering a special address during the ‘National Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights and its Enforcement’ at Kanakakkunnu Palace here, stated in jest, that capacity building was needed for men as well. Why an emphasis on women?
Deccan Chronicle asked the only woman speaker at the conference - Aruna Tiwari, IPR scientist, PFC/TIFAC. She then shared about Kiran-IPR, a year-long rigorous training provided to women with a science background about IPR in general and patents in particular. Earlier known as Woman Scientists Scheme C (WOS-C Scheme), it was introduced by the department of science and technology to invite more women into the field.
