Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity

The theme for 2023’s World IP Day, as declared by the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), was “Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity”, and on April 24th 2023, it was a matter of great pleasure for the Centre for Law and Technology WBNUJS Kolkata , to be hosting said event in collaboration with International Trademark Association (INTA) represented by Ms. Gauri Kumar, [India and South Asia Consultant, INTA], the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) represented by Mr. John Cabeca [US IP Counsellor for South Asia, US Embassy, New Delhi], and the US Consulate General Kolkata represented by Ms. Sonia Laul [Political and Economic Officer], US Consulate, Kolkata, and in association with Authentix OBP represented by Mr. Arpan Banerjee [Senior IP Advisor, Authentix OBP].

Said event consisted of a panel discussion with three women professionals (non-lawyers), namely:

• Ms. HusnaTara Prakash [Managing Director, Glenburn Tea Estate]
• Ms. Ananya Bhattacharya [Director, banglanatak.com]
• Ms. Rimi Nayak [CEO & Head Designer, Rimi Nayak India]

– who, courtesy of their work in fields connected with IP, shared anecdotes about their experiences and shed valuable light on a myriad of practical instances that bore a palpable relevance to the Intellectual Property Rights discourse, through their respective domains of work.

Conducted exclusively on NUJS campus under the leadership of Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) N.K. Chakrabarti, organised by the NUJS Centre for Law and Technology helmed by Prof. (Dr.) Anirban Mazumder and coordinated by Dr. Paramita DasGupta [Assistant Professor (Law & Technology)] together with Mr. Arpan Banerjee [Senior IP Advisor, Authentix OBP] – the event was enthusiastically attended by all, with the objective of spreading awareness among lawyers and law students about the challenges faced by women professionals whose work interfaced with diverse aspects of the broad domain of IPRs in real-time and on a daily basis, and indeed, to come together to applaud and celebrate their individual triumphs, – with students, faculty and guests alike coming away all the more enriched, inspired and motivated by learning from each other’s journeys and stories.