Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s Patent Cell of the School of Post Graduate Studies conducted the “Sensitization workshop on Industrial Designs and Copyrights” on 03.05.2024 at Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Kumulur, Trichy under the motivated guidance of Dr.V.Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU Coimbatore and Dr.N.Senthil, Dean (SPGS). 152 third and final year students and all professors took part in the workshop.
This College has already filed 6 design patents, four of which have been granted viz., Neem fruit picker cum collector, Integrated Hybrid Drying System, Neem fruit picker cum collector and Hand Operated Palmyrah Young Fruit Opener.
Dr.R.Thiyagarajan, Associate Professor and Head, Dept. of FM&PE, AEC&RI, Kumulur welcomed the gathering. In his inaugural address, Dr P. Rajkumar, AEC&RI, Kumulur highlighted the importance of patents by enumerating various benefits and thus motivated the students and staff to apply for patents. He also outlined the facilities available at the College for conducting new and unique research works.
Dr.N.Sentil, Dean, School of Post Graduate Studies, TNAU, Coimbatore in his presidential address, stated that 43 patents have been granted out of 63 patents filed in the past two years. In addition to congratulating the patent holders, he emphasized the need to file more designs and copyrights in the future for engineering graduates. Further, he discussed the numerous advantages of patent filing in agriculture, particularly in relation to gene patents.
Dr.R.Kavitha, Professor and Head, Dept. of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, shared her experience of successfully drafting patent applications and gave the participants lots of tips for filing design applications. Mr.Nireesh kumar, T.V., Assistant Professor of Law, Tamil Nadu National Law University, Trichy shared the legal aspects of patents with the participants in his special address. Through an online presentation, patent attorney Dr.V.Girija explained several aspects of the patenting process to the students during the workshop. Dr.N.Natarajan, Co-ordinator, Patent Cell, SPGS, TNAU, Coimbatore proposed the vote of thanks. At the end of the workshop, 3 copyright applications and 7 design applications were forwarded to the patent coordinator, Patent Cell for filing.