Washington, DC – A recent law graduate from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur’s Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (RGSIPL) expressed her gratitude to the founder of the school as she visited the United States recently as a part of the Hult Global Regional rounds in Boston. The Hult prize is a start up accelerator program covered by the Clinton Global Initiative in association with Hult International Business school.
Thanking Vinod Gupta for establishing the school, Niharika Swaroop, who graduated from RGSIPL in May 2014, told Indian American Times, “My experience varied across different domains including participation in moot courts, on campus activities and social initiatives. I think that the exposure that I got while being at the Law school in IIT wouldn’t have been achievable in any other three year Law course.”
Swaroop added, “IP is a very important domain of law which is interconnected to most of the aspects of our lives. The value of IP in the law circle is growing day by day and it has achieved tremendous outreach in India.”
Susan L. Karamanian, Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies, George Washington University (GWU) Law School which has a close relationship with RGSIPL, echoed the sentiment saying, “The quality of graduates from RGSIPL is outstanding. We have had the pleasure of having some of them in our LL.M. program. They are bright, energetic, and able to straddle the complex world of engineering, science, policy and the law and bring creative solutions to the world’s pressing problems.”
Elaborating the important role playing by the GWU, Karamanian said, “GW Law has worked with IIT Kharagpur before RGSIPL was even established, helping conceptualize the type of law faculty that would be the best fit for the changing legal landscape in India, particularly with regard to the intersection of technology, business, and the law. GW Law faculty have provided lectures at the RGSIPL, with key ones provided by former GW Law Dean Frederick Lawrence, who spoke about constitutional law, and former Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Randall Rader and Professor Martin Adelman who spoke about US patent law. Further, GW Law faculty have provided online lectures on topics such as the intersection of IP and competition law, government procurement, and investment law.”
Indian American Times reached out to Vinod Gupta on his experience and vision on his decision to establish the school. “Setting up a IP law school at IIT Kharagpur was my long time dream,” said Gupta, adding, “I am grateful that it has done so well.”
On the importance of IP education, Gupta commented, “Having intellectual property law education is a must since the world is moving towards intellectual property and if they educated about it they can be lot more productive and can contribute to the wealth of the country.”
Asked further how the idea came to him, Gupta, himself an Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, said, “Many years ago I was talking to the students at IIT Kharagpur. I asked them if they get inquiries from other people outside of India who want them to solve their problems. Some of the students said “Yes all the time. We get requests from people in the US, UK and Germany. They want us to solve some equations or problems. After we solve them, these people go out and patent them. I really got curious and thought wow that’s strange, you do the work and they get the patent.”
“That is when I told Professor Dube, who was the Director at that time that IIT needs a School of Intellectual Property Law so these students can learn about it and not give away their intellectual property. If IIT students come up with new products and solutions, they should be able to patent them in India and not give those patents away. Stanford University, Harvard University and other American Universities do the same.”
“That was the foundation of setting up RGSIPL at IIT Kharagpur in India. I told Professor Dube that I would commit to $2 million in setting up this school and he readily agreed,” said Gupta.
RJSIPL was in the limelight recently when Careers360 rated it the third best college in its comprehensive list of “Top Law Colleges ranked by Careers360”.
Expressing gratitude to directors of IIT Kharagpur who succeeded Professor Dube for being “very supportive of this school,” Gupta said, “The new Dean, Professor Vibhute, and the GW Law School have been instrumental in its terrific success and I couldn’t be happier. I would like this school to expand, admit more students and I am willing to fund its growth.”