I had an opportunity to address 50+ students of Sardar Patel Inst. of Technology (SPIT) located at Andheri in Mumbai this Wed.-5th Oct 2011 thanks to the initiative taken by Prof. Talele.
We started off by discussing an NEN initiative whereby one is supposed to start a business with Rs.50 & it has aroused a lot of interest in campuses.
One of the student thought of an idea of selling popcorn in campuses during movies, college fest etc. and then I pushed them to think of a brand name for the same. One of the suggestion was "TIME PASS" after which I shared with them what could happen if the business grows & the brand is not protected!!
There were a lot of questions around patenting software since the Institute is focused on Information Technology & clearly some disappoint since software cannot be patented in India!!
But nonetheless, students were very hungry to know about Intellectual Property in general & it's implications.
One interesting question was posed by a lady Faculty who asked "What would happen if an individual X who was first to file a provisional patent compared to an individual Y who filed the patent subsequently but failed to file the final patent application in time which would mean the application is no more valid. Would individual Y now have the right to make a claim for the same invention": What do the readers make of the same; let me know your thoughts..
Also another question revolved around applicability of copyright for translation of original work.
All in all, a very interesting & enlightening session with students all of which took place due to the initiative of Prof. Talele who is keen to start engaging students & faculty for patenting of ideas and subsequently set up an Incubator in campus.
Kudos to him & hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!
