What can you do to avoid the consequences faced by Jagadish Chandra Bose?

Many insisted Jagdish Chandra Bose to patent his technique regarding wireless technology but he set aside the idea stating that he is interested only in the research and not making money. The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Guglielmo Marconi and Karl Ferdinand Braun for their contribution to the development of wireless telegraphy.

On February 3, 2023, Institution's Innovation Council (IIC) in collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology organised a seminar on 'Finishing School in Biotechnology'. The main objective of conducting the seminar was to aware the students regarding the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and patenting. Sudipta Porel (WBCS), Joint Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and Dr. Mahuya Hom Choudhury, Senior Scientist and Nodal Officer, Patent Information Centre, WBSCST were present at the event.

While interacting with the students, Porel highlighted the prospects of the students pursuing Biotechnology and how Agriculture and Biotechnology can collaborate and contribute in fertilizer manufacturing and other areas. Bioinformatics, Biotech in IT, Marine Biotechnology are also some of the areas that can be explored.

Again, Dr. Mahuya Hom Choudhury time and again stressed on the importance of the protection of IPRs. Citing Jagadish Bose’s example, she said “Whenever a technology is patented by someone developed by someone else in the first place, we will lose the first inventor.”

The session was very important for the students, and they got to understand the importance of patenting, IPR protection and others.