A debate and exhibition at St. Xavier’s

Awareness about intellectual property rights is necessary to promote genuine products in the marketplace and seize fake goods. What better way to achieve this than starting off with high school students! Earlier this month, I was honoured to be a judge for a debate competition and exhibition, both on the theme of intellectual property rights, at St. Xavier’s High School and Junior College, Bhandup (Mumbai).

Students from grades 8th and 9th passionately debated on the impact of e-commerce on intellectual property rights – for instance, had infringement become rampant? Two groups of students representing two different ‘houses’ convincingly spoke on a range of issues surrounding IP rights and e-commerce. Through the presentations, it was evident that the participants had done a lot of research on the topic. I had a hard time grading the participants but I must admit I was delighted to watch them talk about these issues, which, of course, affects them directly!

India’s draft national IPR policy, released in December 2014, listed IP awareness and promotion as one of seven objectives. The policy proposes to create resource materials and organise events and programmes to raise public awareness. In order to spread awareness about IP rights, the Indian Intellectual Property Office has developed a series of comic strips called Kids Intellectual Property Series (KIPS). The UK Intellectual Property Office created a portal, cracking ideas, to educate the youth about protecting innovative ideas. Bespoke teaching resources are available for various age groups starting at five years old.

Following the debate, I proceeded to judge an impressive exhibition of genuine and fake products, from face creams to shoes to jerseys! Each grade was tasked with visiting small and big shops in the neighbourhood and getting hold of original and fake variations of consumer products. The result was astounding – the differences between original and copycat ranged from stark to blink-and-you-miss! What was really encouraging to see was the enthusiasm and interest with which the students had surveyed the marketplace and picked up spurious goods! To say the least, I found it both challenging and heartbreaking to pick one top group – for me, they all were winners because they had become aware (i.e. enlightened) consumers. As I left the school, I was a happy soul! I was bowled over by the assertiveness and awareness of the students about intellectual property issues. I was gratified that the consumers of the future were well-informed and IP savvy. Makers of fake goods – you better watch out!