World Intellectual Property Day celebrated at Science City with an initiative for children to innovate
Ahmedabad: World Intellectual Property (IP) Day was celebrated at Gujarat Science City in an unique way to allowing children to innovate and to take IP certificate for their new design and concepts. About 500 school children from different schools in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Atal Tinkering Labs participated in the programme and got an orientation into the world of Intellectual Property Rights in an interesting manner.
Gujarat Council on Science & Technology (GUJCOST) and Gujarat Science City, working under the aegis of the Dept of Science & Technology, government of Gujarat, organized the special scientific programmes and outreach activities on Intellectual Property Rights to mark the celebration. The theme of this year World IP Day is “Sports and IP: Reach for Gold” which gave an opportunity to take a closer look inside the world of sports.
Speaking on the occasion, Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach Shri Shashimohan Dhumal informed that creativity and innovation drive sports everywhere. Let’s spread the word and celebrate the power of sports to engage, inspire, and unite us all. He talked about IP and Trademark in particular, giving examples of the bat, ball and other gears used by cricketers and other players.
Shri Dinesh Parmar, sports coach of IIT Gandhinagar expressed that smart sports equipment embedded with sensors and other sophisticated information and communication technologies are now widespread. These smart technologies allow athletes and their trainers to track and evaluate performance and identify areas for improvement. While elite athletes may be the first to try out and use these technologies, as they reach the market, we all get to benefit from them and monitor our own daily exercise, hydration levels and more.
“Young people are our future. Among them are tomorrow’s inventors, creators, entrepreneurs and decision-makers. That is why it is so important for us to engage with them and cultivate their understanding of the role IP can play in fostering innovation, creativity and economic performance,” said Narottam Sahoo, Advisor GUJCOST.
As an initiative, GUJCOST has designed a special programme including Board games, quizzes and various other activities on IPR for School Students, in which a team of experienced IP faculties from GUJCOST will visit different schools and to orient the students and teachers about the IPR. For arranging such special outreach programme on IPR in students and teachers, schools are requested to send their requisition to GUJCOST.
The World IP Day is celebrated every year on 26th April since 2000. This date was chosen as it coincides with the date on which the Convention on establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) entered into force in 1970.