By TCN News,
New Delhi/Chennai: There is a need to document the hitherto undocumented traditional knowledge and preserve classical works of Unani system of medicine. This was emphasized at the one-day ‘National Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Unani Medicine’ organized today by the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), New Delhi – an autonomous organization under Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India – at its Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine (RRIUM) in Chennai.
In his welcome address, Prof. Syed Shakir Jamil, Director General, CCRUM underscored the importance of IPR in Unani system of medicine and highlighted the achievements of the CCRUM in this area. He informed that the Council had been granted eight patents and had filed another 33 patent applications. He also said that more than 2 lakhs Unani formulations had already been protected and transmitted by Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL).
The Chief Guest Prof. Rais-ur-Rahman, Advisor (Unani), Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India advocated for protection and commercialization of the knowledge and intellectual properties of Unani Medicine through patenting. He appreciated the functioning of the IPR cell at CCRUM, New Delhi.
Prof. R.S. Ramaswamy, Director General, Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS), Chennai, who was the Guest of Honour on the occasion, emphasized that folklore knowledge should also be protected.
Prof. S. Chandrasekaran former Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks emphasized the importance of acquiring, utilizing and protecting the knowledge of traditional medicines.
More than 60 delegates participated in the workshop which comprised lectures by Mr. S K Pangasa, former Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs, Indian Patent Office, New Delhi, Prof. D. Narasimhan, University of Madras, Chennai, Mr. Sanjeev Majumdar, Deputy Manager, IPR, NRDC, New Delhi, Dr. S P Subramaniyan, Assistant Controller, IPO, Chennai and Mr. K Chitrasu, Advisor (Law), NBA, Chennai on various aspects of IPR and related issues. The workshop concluded with the vote of thanks proposed by Dr. Syed Jameeluddin Ahmed, Research Officer Incharge, RRIUM, Chennai.