In a significant step towards strengthening access to high-quality scientific, technical and intellectual property information, the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, and the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today for participation in the National Knowledge Resource Consortium (NKRC).

The MoU signing ceremony was held at Saraswati Hall, Bouddhik Sampada Bhawan, Dwarka, New Delhi, in the presence of senior officials from both organizations. The MoU was formally signed by Prof. (Dr.) Unnat P. Pandit, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), and Dr. Geeta Vani Rayasam, Director, CSIR-NIScPR.

The event commenced with a welcome to the dignitaries, followed by presentations highlighting the activities of both organizations and the role of NKRC in providing seamless access to world-class scientific and technical information resources.

In her address, Dr. Geetha Vani Rayasam, Director, CSIR-NIScPR, emphasized that the collaboration extends beyond providing access to scholarly information through NKRC. She highlighted that both organizations have immense potential to work together in areas such as patent information services, intellectual property management, science communication, science policy research, capacity building, digital knowledge management, and dissemination of scientific information. She expressed confidence that the partnership would evolve into a long-term strategic collaboration benefiting researchers, innovators, policymakers and the intellectual property ecosystem of the country. She also highlighted the overview of CSIR-NIScPR, highlighting its contributions in science communication, scholarly publishing, digital information management and science policy research. She also emphasized that it is high time for government organizations to collaborate more effectively to ensure the optimal utilization of resources.

Delivering the keynote address, Prof. (Dr.) Unnat P. Pandit, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, congratulated the NKRC team and CSIR-NIScPR for successfully managing and expanding the National Knowledge Resource Consortium over the past 25 years. He described the collaboration as particularly significant as CGPDTM joins NKRC during its Silver Jubilee year. He observed that becoming a member of NKRC would enable CGPDTM to gain access to a large collection of high-quality scientific, technical, patent and bibliographic resources while achieving substantial cost savings through the consortium model. He further expressed optimism that the partnership would open avenues for collaboration in several other areas of mutual interest, including intellectual property, innovation support and knowledge services.

A detailed presentation on the NKRC was delivered by Mr. Mukesh A. Pund, Head, Digital Information Resources Division (DIRD) and Coordinator, NKRC. He outlined the evolution of NKRC over the last twenty-five years, its governance framework, subscription model, resource-sharing mechanism, and its role in negotiating national-level licenses for scientific information resources, which lead to significant notional savings for subscribing institutes. NKRC also works together with PM-One Nation One Subscription for implementation and providing access to major e-resources. The presentation highlighted that NKRC currently serves 82 member institutions, including organizations under CSIR, the Department of Science & Technology (DST), and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). He also showcased the extensive collection of electronic resources available through NKRC, including hundreds of international scholarly journals, standards, patent databases, bibliographic databases and specialized research tools that support scientific research, innovation and technological development across the country.

Ms. Geeta Kumari, Examiner of Patents & Designs, presented the importance and expected benefits of NKRC membership for the Office of CGPDTM, emphasizing how enhanced access to global scientific and technical literature would strengthen patent examination, prior-art searches and evidence-based decision making.

The signing of the MoU marks the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation between the two premier organizations. The ceremony was graced by the presence of senior officials from both organizations. The collaboration is expected to strengthen access to global knowledge resources, enhance support for intellectual property administration, facilitate informed decision-making through quality scientific information, and promote future collaborations in research, innovation, science communication and science policy.

 

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NKR/AK/AV

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