The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) and CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 17 July 2026 to deepen participation in the National Knowledge Resource Consortium (NKRC). The agreement matters for UPSC because patent administration depends on reliable access to scientific, technical, patent, and bibliographic information, and such access affects both innovation policy and administrative quality.

What happened

The MoU was signed in New Delhi at Saraswati Hall, Bouddhik Sampada Bhawan, Dwarka. The signatories were Prof. (Dr.) Unnat P. Pandit, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, and Dr. Geeta Vani Rayasam, Director, CSIR-NIScPR.

The stated purpose of the agreement is to strengthen access to high-quality scientific, technical, and intellectual property information through NKRC. The arrangement also aims to support patent information services, intellectual property management, science communication, science policy research, capacity building, digital knowledge management, and dissemination of scientific information.

Background and earlier position

The NKRC is a resource-sharing and subscription consortium that negotiates national-level licenses for scientific information resources. According to the presentation at the event, NKRC has been operating for 25 years and currently serves 82 member institutions, including institutions under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Department of Science & Technology, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

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