Faculty staff participated to the Sri Lanka University Intellectual Property Policy Workshop

Introduction:The Sri Lanka University Intellectual Property Policy Workshop was organized by Commercial Law Department Program (CLDP) of the U.S. Department of Commerce in cooperation with the Sri Lanka University Grant Commission (UGC) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This was held in Taj Samudra Hotel Colombo from 24th to 27th April 2017. All the Universities Vice Chancellors participated during the first day of the program. Dean and Mr. R. Valluvan, the coordinator of the University Business Linkage Cell of the Faculty of Engineering, participated to this workshop all three days. Resource persons were Richard Cahoon, Yumiko Hamano and Anthony Williams. This was excellent workshop clearly given the scope of the workshop. The faculty thanks the U.S. Embassy Colombo and the UGC for organizing this workshop.

Purpose of this workshop was to:

  1. Provide a clear understanding of intellectual property (IP) management, technology transfer and commercialization in a university context and its relevance to the university mission
  2. Clarify the link between effective IP/technology transfer and institutional IP Policy
  3. Provide detailed knowledge of the critical elements of an IP Policy and underlying rationale
  4. Explain the implementation of IP Policy regarding constituents that are internal (faculty, staff, students) or external (companies, government, other universities, NGOs)

The sessions followed:

  • Session 1.1 Introduction
  • Session 1.2 Workshop Purpose, IP-based Technology Transfer Defined Individual Introductions of Universities
  • Session 1.3 Context for University IP Policy
  • Session 1.4 IP: A Foundation for University Technology Transfer
  • Session 1.5 IP Policy and the University’s Engagement with Industry
  • Session 1.6 Lunch with Q&A/Roundtable
  • Session 1.7 IP Policy Foundation: Critical Elements
  • Session 1.9 Summary and Take Home Message
  • Session 1.10 Q&A and Roundtable Discussion Wrap-up and Summary of Day 1
  • Session 2.1 Overview of IP-based Technology Transfer Process
  • Session 2.2 Details of Essential IP Policy Elements
  • Session 2.3 Mechanisms of IP Policy Implementation
  • Session 2.4 More IP Policy Elements
  • Session 2.5 Lunch and Q&A/Roundtable Discussion
  • Session 2.6 IP Policy & University Engagement with Industry
  • Session 2.7 Developing and Implementing the IP Policy
  • Session 2.8 Q&A and Roundtable Discussion
  • Session 2.9 Case Study Exercise Wrap-up and Summary of Day 2
  • Session 3.1 Review of Days 1&2 and Roundtable Q&A
  • Session 3.2 Bridging the University-Industry Cultural Divide
  • Session 3.3 Bridging the University-Industry Cultural Divide
  • Session 3.4 Roundtable Discussion
  • Session 3.5 University-Industry Engagement Overview
  • Session 3.6 Case Study Exercise
  • Session 3.7 Q&A and Roundtable Discussion
  • Session 3.8 Wrap-up and Summary of Workshop