CUTS, a Jaipur-based non-governmental think-tank on trade and regulatory issues, is organising a five-day training programme on “Intellectual Property Rights and Related WTO Issues” from 28th April to 2nd May 2008 at Hotel Golden Tulip, Jaipur. It is organised in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India in order to build the capacity of scientists and technologists working with various departments, institutes and research laboratories of the Government of India such as Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Department of Atomic Energy, Survey of India, Gas Authority of India Limited.
Over five days the participants will be imparted with skills on various aspects of IPRs and related WTO issues through lectures, simulation exercises, group discussions, etc. Resource persons include B. K. Zutshi, Former Indian Ambassador to the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which was the predecessor of the World Trade Organisation); Prabuddha Ganguli, Chief Executive Officer of Vision IPR, Mumbai; Sachin Chaturvedi, Fellow of Research and Information System for Non-aligned and Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi; Rajeshwari Hariharan of K&S law firm in New Delhi; and Atul Kaushik, Bipul Chatterjee and Archana Jatkar of CUTS.
According to Atul Kaushik, Adviser (Projects) of CUTS, “This training programme intends to facilitate an overview of the basic principles of the multilateral trading system and an understanding of the trade rules that apply to India’s intellectual property rights regime. It will be highly relevant and beneficial for the scientists and technologists and will prepare them to better exploit the opportunities that arise from the use of IPRs.”
The programme will cover an overview of the WTO, an overview of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), enforcement under the TRIPS Agreement, copyrights and related rights, implications of IPRs for developing countries, basic features of the Indian Copyright Act, the Indian Patent Act, the Indian Plant Varieties Protection and Farmers’ Rights Act, a brief overview of other IPR laws in India, relationship of IPRs with biotechnology, traditional knowledge and access and benefit sharing, patent drafting, and negotiations in the WTO on IPR issues.
For more information, please contact:
Rahul Ranjan, +9199283 04252, rr@cuts.org