DW BUREAU / CHANDIGARH As a part of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) series, a webinar entitled, 'Patent Protection in India and Abroad' was organized on Saturday by IPR Chair, Panjab University in association with DST-Centre for Policy Research,PU and Association of Microbiologists of India, Chandigarh unit. The keynote speaker Dr KS Kardam, former Sr Joint Controller of Patents and Designs, Government of India, presented a holistic and comprehensive insight into the relevance of the intellectual property (IP) and exemplified the detailed process of applying for patents in India and abroad through the Indian Patent Office and the Patent Cooperation Treaty respectively. Dr Kardam also apprised the audience about the­ recent efforts of the central government to shorten patent-grant period and introduction of novel schemes to stimulate IP ecosystem in India. He particularly dwelled upon, 'Scheme for Facilitating Startups Intellectual Property Protection' (SIPP) to boost start-up culture in India. This scheme is being highly appreciated by the budding entrepreneurs. Prof Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor Panjab University (PU), chaired the webinar and emphasized the importance of patents for the young minds and researchers.He was of the opinion that a single patent is worth more than a dozen of research publications. He also highlighted the need for strengthening IPR regime in Indian higher education institutions. Dr Sanjeev Khosla, Director, Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh and distinguished guest of the event apprised the audience of the patent regime of CSIR laboratories and also stressed upon the generation of wealth via the patent commercialization. The webinar was attended by nearly 100 participants comprising of young researchers, students, professors and scientists belonging to many Higher Education Institutes as well as Research Laboratories situated in and around Chandigarh. (editor@dailyworld.in)