Chennai: The Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology (TNSCST) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen academic and industrial biomedical research projects through intellectual property.The MoU was signed by S Vincent, member-secretary of TNSCST, and Rajiv Bahl, director-general of ICMR, in New Delhi on Thursday.To increase biomedical inventions, the Union govt took many initiatives, including ICMR’s medical innovations patent mitra, designed specifically to protect biomedical inventions.“This agreement protects the exclusive rights in biomedical innovations originating from academic institutions and initiates seamless technology transfer for biomedical innovations. Both the parties will jointly facilitate patent filing through the medical innovations patent mitra initiative,” a release from TNSCST said.They will collaborate to connect inventors with potential investors, with the objective of commercialisation of biomedical patents. Inventors will be supported with end-to-end, zero-cost patent filing, prosecution, and technology transfer.“This initiative seeks to assist high-quality, strategic patent applications for cutting-edge biomedical research. The MoU creates a strong expert-driven ecosystem that enables academics, businesses, and researchers to apply innovations to public health,” said S Vincent.As part of the MoU, the council and ICMR will organise workshops, conferences, training programmes, and other events to facilitate knowledge exchange and the dissemination of best practices.
