A workshop on “IPR and Commercialization issues in Horticulture “was convened on 07th February 2023 at ICAR-IIHR to sensitize scientists on different aspects of Intellectual Property Management and Commercialization and to have an interaction on various issues associated with the commercialization. At the outset, Dr. Hima Bindu, Nodal Officer, ITMU welcomed all the dignitaries and participants to the workshop and briefed about the genesis of Technology Commercialization at ICAR-IIHR, the journey till now and the milestones achieved in technology licensing, professional service functions and incubation. Dr. S.K. Singh, Director, ICAR-IIHR, in his presidential address mentioned the contributions of ICAR-IIHR in policy making and formulating the SOP for technology licensing at ICAR. The Chief guest Dr. K. Srinivas, ADG, IP&TM, joined online and shed light on the journey of ICAR and IIHR in the field of technology commercialisation and business incubation and need to focus on expanding the activities further. The invited experts, Dr. Yashawant Dev Panwar, Head IPR, TIFAC and Dr. Ashwini Siwal, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi joined the workshop online and delivered enlightening talks on “IPR and Technology Commercialization” and “Copyright and Technology Commercialization” respectively. Each session was followed by interactions with the experts. Dr. Vikram Singh, Senior Scientist, IP&TM Unit, ICAR Headquarters remarked that ICAR-IIHR contribution alone earmarks to 25% of the total technology commercialization done by all the ICAR institutes. He also emphasised that though we have come a long way in patenting and commercializing technologies, more Trademarks and Copyrights are expected in the future. This was followed by an interactive session where Dr K. Srinivas, ADG, IPTM clarified the queries raised by the scientists of ICAR-IIHR. Dr. C.K. Narayana, CEO BESST-HORT in his concluding remarks emphasised the need to sensitise the finance and administration wings of the institutes on technology commercialisation and business incubation for smooth and effective functioning. The workshop was attended by Heads of the Divisions, Regional Stations, scientists, staff and students of ICAR-IIHR (both online and offline). The workshop ended with vote of thanks by Dr. B. L. Manjunath, Nodal Officer ABI to the Chair and participants. Dr. Umamaheshwari, Senior Scientist, member ITMU moderated the programme.
