L2Pro India IP e-learning Platform Launch on 14th October, 2019 at Udyog Bhawan, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Centre for Innovation, Intellectual Property and Competition (CIIPC), NLU Delhi on Monday, 14th October, announced the launch of the L2Pro India IP e-learning platform in collaboration with Cell for IPR Promotion & Management (CIPAM), DPIIT, Government of India and Qualcomm Inc.
The L2Pro (Learn to Protect) India IP e-learning platform aims to educate start-ups, MSMEs and innovators on protection and enforcement of their intellectual property. It was launched by the Hon’ble SIIT Mr. Guruprasad Mohapatra. As an e-learning platform, the course is divided into three different levels. The basic level provides an overview of the intellectual property landscape in India. The intermediate and the advanced levels deal in detail with the more sophisticated concepts of protecting, managing, and commercializing IP, funding, the role of IP tech-standards, and IP dispute settlement. The course consists of interactive introductory and summary videos, e-text with detailed explanation on concepts, brain teasers, practical information, and assessments to grade the learner’s knowledge. The content has been authored by Prof. Yogesh Pai, Assistant Professor of Law, Co-ordinator-IPR Chair, and Co-director-CIIPC, NLU Delhi and Ms. Pragya Chaturvedi, Research Fellow, CIIPC.
Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, DPIIT in his welcome address and opening remarks thanked the Hon’ble SIIT for launching the platform. Mr. Aggarwal expressed pleasure at having the teams from Qualcomm, NLU Delhi and CIPAM present for the launch and stated that while the launch itself may seem like a small step, it is the effort behind it which speaks volumes. While thanking the respective teams for their efforts, he also expressed confidence that the teams will continue to cooperate and evolve an IP ecosystem in the entire country. Mr. Aggarwal also informed that while the intended audience is start-ups and MSMEs, the plan is also to introduce the online platform in academic institutions as presently there is only physical outreach and some online presence in the form of YouTube videos which have limited impact.
Mr. Parag Kar, Vice President, Qualcomm provided a brief overview of the L2Pro India IP e-learning platform. Mr. Kar emphasised that the e-learning platform has been customized for India, making it the biggest USP of the platform. He informed the Hon’ble SIIT that the L2Pro platform has already been successfully implemented in other countries, including Germany and Italy. Mr. Kar stated that the idea was to ensure that innovation, which is fundamental to all the activities being undertaken, specifically in relation to start-ups, is protected and monetized. Responding to the Hon’ble SIIT’s question on the strategy to popularise the course, Mr. Kar informed that there will be a marketing strategy in place soon after the launch to maximise its outreach. Mr. Kar then expressed his appreciation of Qualcomm’s partnership with NLU Delhi and CIPAM, stating that the project was made possible because of these valued partnerships.
Mr. Alexander. H. Rogers, Executive Vice President and President, Qualcomm Technology Licensing thanked the teams at DPIIT and NLU Delhi. While stating that Qualcomm has been working in India for a significant time, he expressed pleasure at the targeted focus on start-ups and emphasised the need of awareness about protecting, monetizing, and taking advantage of IP.
Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, remarked that in today’s knowledge economy, start-ups and MSMEs play an important part in the economic growth of a nation and that we are at the cusp of the fourth Industrial Revolution in the age of 5G networks, Artificial Intelligence and Big-data. He expressed his confidence on the success of the collaboration between the Ministry, NLU Delhi and Qualcomm to undertake the L2Pro India project as present day start-ups thrive on innovation, new technologies and other creative ideas by protecting and enforcing their intellectual property. He also expressed pleasure on the tremendous progress the project has made within the span of a year and few months. He stated that this was no small achievement since the app and the web versions are very interactive and not only the start-up founders and SMEs, but anyone taking this course will find it to be immensely useful in learning about IP. Dr. Singh concluded by saying that the centre on IP and the recently constituted IPR Chair have been regularly contributing to the IP law and policy landscape in India and NLU Delhi has recently concluded a Memorandum with the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Geneva and the Government of India to host the WIPO summer school at NLU Delhi. He expressed hope that the current discussions with the Government to establish the WIPO LLM programme at NLU Delhi will be fruitful.
The launch by the Hon’ble SIIT comprised of the display of the course overview video, initial screens from the module on patents, and the introductory video from the same module. The Hon’ble SIIT welcomed all the attendees including the teams from Qualcomm and NLU Delhi and the Joint Secretary, Sh. Rajiv Aggarwal. He stated that he was delighted that the Ministry, Qualcomm and NLU Delhi have joined hands to undertake this vital project which was just launched. He expressed his confidence in the utility of the course, stating that it will be very useful for the start-up community, especially in terms of creating understanding of property rights and their protection. He also remarked that what we see on the screen is a finished product but undoubtedly a lot of work has gone into it and congratulated the teams on their efforts. He stated that in every sphere in the country, start-ups hold great promise but what they lack is the legal knowledge of this nature and this course will help them fill this gap.
With this, the launch was concluded and marks the commencement of the basic level of the course on the L2Pro India Platform. The intermediate and advanced level will follow in the coming months. For facilitating learning on the go, the platform has also been launched in the form of a mobile app which will be available on the Google Play Store and Apple Store shortly.