Awareness prog on IPR held

LONGKHAW, 5 Nov: Thirty farmers, artisans and weavers from Longkhaw, Maihua and Bonia villages took part in an awareness programme on ‘the role of intellectual property rights (IPR) in protecting indigenous knowledge system’, conducted here in Longding district by the NERIST’s forestry department on Thursday.

During the programme, resource person Jayanta Gogoi elaborated the importance of IPR such as trademark, patents, geographical indications, etc, and their application in various local products, such as handicrafts, handlooms, woodcarving and agricultural crops.

Longkhaw village head Ban Pang highlighted the importance of protecting and preserving indigenous knowledge systems and the role of community participation in promoting and preserving traditional knowledge related to handicrafts, wood carving and handloom and agricultural practices.

The programme was organized under the National Mission on Himalayan Studies-sponsored project titled ‘Documentation of indigenous knowledge system of selected major tribes of Arunachal Pradesh and relevance of intellectual property rights to indigenous knowledge system (www. ipr4iks.com)’.

G Pangging is the PI of the project, and Profs CL Sharma and MB Sharma from the NERIST’s forestry department are the co-PIs.