The Punjab University (PU) has become the first institution in the region to have an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy in place as reported by Times of India. Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) is set to propose this policy as a model document for all the institutions in Punjab and Chandigarh.
Centre for Industry-Institute Partnership Programme (CIIPP) of PU will provide an assistance of up to Rs. 50,000 to persons applying for a patent, allowing two patents per faculty per year and it will be controlled by university’s IPR cell. The university will also seek the services of the Patent Information Centre (PIC) at PSCST and will assist the inventors in protecting their IPR. All the charges will be borne by Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), if a patent application is filed through PIC. Further, it will also maintain the patent for a period of 10 years.
As per the policy, if the faculty applies through the university, then university will be the ‘assignee’ while the faculty will be the ‘inventor’. However, the thesis will be the copyright of student and guide. Further, the profit ratio between inventor and university has been revised to 70 to 30. Also if inventors disclose any patentable invention/technology or trademark to another party, they are liable to be prosecuted.