Patent Awareness Drive Expands Across India Through CSIR Workshops

A nationwide push to strengthen India’s innovation and intellectual property ecosystem is gaining momentum as patent and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) workshops are being organised across several Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) institutes under the Rashtriya Boudhik Sampada Mahotsav (RBSM) initiative.

The latest workshop was held at CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram, where researchers, innovators and startup founders received training in patent filing, prior art search and patent drafting.

Launched in 2023 under the “Ideas for Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative, the Rashtriya Boudhik Sampada Mahotsav has evolved into a nationwide intellectual property awareness campaign aimed at promoting patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs and geographical indications.

Officials said the programme is not limited to a single institution or state. Similar workshops and awareness drives have been conducted at several CSIR laboratories and research centres across the country, including institutes focused on petroleum research, structural engineering, metallurgy, chemical technology and advanced materials.

Experts at the workshops have repeatedly stressed the need to transform laboratory research into commercially viable products and encourage stronger collaboration between academia and industry. Speakers have also highlighted that while patent filings in India are steadily increasing, many innovations still fail to reach the market or benefit the wider public.

The workshops are designed to equip scientists, students, entrepreneurs and startups with practical knowledge on protecting inventions and navigating India’s intellectual property framework.

With India increasingly focusing on innovation-led growth and self-reliance, the expanding reach of these patent awareness programmes is being viewed as a significant step toward building a stronger knowledge-based economy.