Vrikshham Foundation’s Patent & Innovation Summit 2024 kickstarts in Chennai

Chennai: Vrikshham Foundation’s Patent & Innovation Summit 2024 started on a promising note at the MM Convention Centre, Saveetha Dental College Campus, Chennai, with the key speakers stressing on the importance of celebrating outstanding inventions and innovations.

Setting the context for the flagship event, Ms Rekha Suresh M P, Founder, Vrikshham Foundation, emphasized the need to promote awareness on patents and innovations along with the dissemination of knowledge on intellectual property rights (IPR) among all segments of society. The summit saw the participation of over 800+ innovators, including patent holders, entrepreneurs, students, legal professionals, investors, venture capitalists, academia, research institutions, and Industry experts.

Ms Rekha Suresh further said that Vrikshham Foundation acted as a catalyst in terms of identifying and recognizing innovative thinkers across the spectrum. The legal practitioner said that she firmly believed in responsible innovation so that the rights of others are not affected.

Dr Asha Sundaram, Principal, Saveetha School of Law, in her special address, noted that students are the future innovators and they have the ability to shape the emerging technology. She stressed on the need to celebrate the spirit of innovation and wanted the active participation of academia and the industry for practical application of new ideas.

Former Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court T Raja, the Chief Guest of the summit, became a historian in his own right when he narrated the significant events that had a bearing on partition of India and how the country got its independence despite the opposition from war time Prime Minister of England Mr Winston Churchill. He wanted everyone to be a proud Indian and narrated the success story of Rishi Sunak, the current PM of the UK, Kamala Harris, who is a big name in US politics, and the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai.

Justice Raja emphasized the critical role of robust intellectual property rights in safeguarding innovation with a pointed reference to the link between innovation, economic growth, and societal progress, highlighting the need for a supportive environment and a strong legal framework.

The legal luminary dwelt at length on the growth and development of trade and economic bodes like GATT, WTO, FTA and Doha Declaration 2001 and judiciary's commitment to protecting the rights of innovators and creators.

The judge also quoted Indian Patent Act stating that frivolous things can’t be patented and wanted three important things to be followed while patenting—novelty, utility and nonobviousness.

Mr Murali Sundaram, Founder, TLC Masterminds & TLC Publishing and an author of Happyness Coach, spoke on the topic ‘Success Mantras for Business Startups’. He noted that failure in business startups should not be taken seriously as success could follow with the application of mind and heart steadfastly.

Mr V Nandakumar, IRS, Commissioner of Income Tax, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, spoke at length on the legal and other issues involved in patenting even while observing the resourcefulness in getting the patent rights for exclusive nature of ideas backed by innovations.

He wanted the legal students to make use of the ideas deliberated upon by various speakers at the Patent & Innovation Summit 2024 organised by Vrikshham Foundation. The IRS officer also mentioned in a lighter vein about the design element involved in the PI (Patent & Innovation) logo of the summit to drive home his point for claiming the trademark right for the logo.

Mr Nandakumar narrated an incident in the life of Graham Bell, who was credited with being the inventor of the telephone and for getting the patent right for the instrument that he had invented. Stating that there are several litigations on patents across the world, he wanted people with innovative ideas to study the problems involved in getting the patent rights. He touched upon the global auto major Tesla which has a huge number of innovations awaiting patent rights.

Mr Nandakumar also launched the PI Connect book of Vrikshham Foundation, a quarterly magazine, showcasing ground breaking inventions and innovations. The summit also saw the presentation of awards to patent holders, inventors and innovators in various fields. A pivotal aspect of the summit was the panel discussion on the Investor's perspective on patent rights. The deliberations provided valuable insights into funding opportunities and strategies for patent holders to bring the

innovations to market.

The primary objectives of the Patent & Innovation Summit were manifold:

Celebrate innovators: Recognize the contributions of innovators who have obtained

patents for their ground-breaking ideas and technologies, promote Intellectual Property protection and foster innovation and societal progress.

Foster Knowledge Exchange: Provide a platform for inventors, researchers, and industry leaders to network, collaborate, and exchange ideas, thereby fostering a culture of innovation. Inspire Future Inventors: Motivate aspiring inventors and innovators to pursue their dreams by showcasing their remarkable accomplishments.

****