RS Praveen Raj, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-NIIST, and member of committee tasked to revise Kerala’s IPR policy formulated in 2008.
The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has constituted a drafting committee to revise its existing IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) policy . This comes after it had brought forth its own policy way back in 2008 and Centre followed it by releasing a national IPR policy in 2016, directing all state councils to prepare state-level IPR policies.
Members of drafting committee for revising state policy include N Anilkumar, Chairman, Kerala State Biodiversity Board; A Sabu, Member-Secretary, KSCSTE; KC Sunny, Professor of Law, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod; RS Praveen Raj, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram; Narendran Tiruthy, Assistant Professor, Rajiv Gandhi School of IP Law, IIIT-Kharagpur; and Binuja Thomas, Senior Principal Scientist, KSCSTE.
Designates nodal agency
IP Rights Information Centre-Kerala has been designated as nodal agency of IPR related matter and services in state. It will act as advisory centre and also frame policies/rules pertaining to IPR and related matter, a government order said. Since the state’s policy was brought out much ahead of the national IPR policy and many changes have happened ever since, KSCSTE has proposed to revise it by incorporating various components covered in the national policy as well.
It conducted a brainstorming session on March 28 with IPR experts and officials from concerned departments, based on which it was decided to constitute a drafting committee to revise state policy in line the national policy, the order added.
To broaden policy scope
Praveen Raj, member of committee, told businessine focus of IPR Policy for Kerala 2008 was protection of traditional knowledge. The scope of this document is now proposed to be broadened in line with national IPR policy. “I had presented a draft ‘IPR and Traditional Knowledge Policy 2025’ in brainstorming meeting, and drafting committee has been directed to refine it.”
Raj’s draft proposes to include IPR in university and school curriculum as a mandatory subject. An IPR academy has also been proposed. Other highlights include a Traditional Knowledge Docketing System (TKDS); Mission IPR; and Kerala Traditional Knowledge Authority (KTKA), Raj pointed out.
Published on April 21, 2025