Mizoram Legislative Assembly, Deputy Speaker Er. Lalrinawma today graced a One Day Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights jointly organised by National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) Aizawl and Mizoram Science, Technology & Innovation Council (MISTIC) at NIELIT Aizawl Centre at  Zuangtui. 

Deputy Speaker Er. Lalrinawma highlighted India’s engagement with Intellectual Property Rights since the inception of WTO and various Conventions in IPR.  He said that in today fast paced technical world, the importance of intellectual property rights cannot be underscored. Sometimes indigenous designs and things can even be stolen if they have been used by communities for generations, we must realise the need to protect such things under Geographical Indicator (GI) tag, he added. He further said that communities must safeguard their tangible cultural heritage through IPR. 

The Workshop was addressed by Shri Th. T. Gunendra Nath Singh, Director In-charge, NEILIT Aizawl, Shri Th. Prameshwor Singh, Executive Director, NIELIT, Imphal and Pu Th. Surendra Nath Singh, Director, MASTEC, Manipur. In the Technical Session held in the afternoon Shri Th. Surendra Nath Singh, Director, MASTEC, Manipur and Dr. Lalruatfela Renthlei, Project Scientist, MISTIC, Mizoram presented their papers on IPR.   

The Workshop aims to educate participants about patents, copyright, industrial design rights, trademarks, plant variety rights, geographical indicators and other related things. Students from NIT Mizoram, Mizoram University, Polytechnic Lunglei, Women's Polytechnic Aizawl, ICFAI University and  NIELIT attended the Workshop.