The concept of Knowledge Cities is becoming increasingly popular and several such centers are being planned all over the world.

Not to be outdone, India is going to have its own spanking new Silicon Valley quite soon. Parsvnath Developers Limited (PDL) along with Mr. Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder Hotmail, and HSIIDC ( Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation) will be developing a knowledge city across 11,000 acres in Panchkula near Chandigarh, 200 km north of Delhi, India’s capital. To be named Parsvnath Nano City, the knowledge city’s world-class infrastructure will sustain a modern lifestyle and will be chiefly involved in the creation of Intellectual Capital.
The master plan for the city has been developed by BgAP - Berkeley Group for Architecture & Planning, which is an incorporated group of professionals, faculty, students, alumni and other affiliates of the University of California at Berkeley.
The city is being valued at Rs. 50,000 crore or US$ 12 billion, and is to be completed in ten years.
Chairman of Parsvnath Developers, Mr. Pradeep Jain, states, “This prestigious project will not only validate the investment and business environment of the region, but also firmly establish the region as an international investment destination.”
The city will have four districts- the IT district, the university district, the airport district and the biotech district.

Its educational and research institutions including universities, R&D centers and Bio-technology centers, will be of the highest caliber.

Catering to the recreational aspect there will be an 18 hole championship golf course, nature trails, forests, parks and sports centers.

It is anticipated that world-class companies involved in the creation of Intellectual Property will be drawn to it and that it will be a focal point for companies operating in areas such as Nano Sciences, Software Development, Bio-Technology, Next generation Drug Discovery, Energy Research and Semiconductor Research.

Intellectual Property is one of the most precious resources of your enterprise and must be properly protected. You must have your Intellectual Property safeguarded failing which you will face major problems once you start outsourcing. Your IP must be protected legally, physically and electronically.
Protecting Intellectual Property Legally
• Make an effort to understand the culture and legal system of the provider’s country.
• Learn about out how IP rights enforcement works in the country you are outsourcing to.
• Establish the country’s legal system that will regulate and have control over any agreement disputes.
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When considering outsourcing, a customer should first examine his possible associate’s capability of safeguarding private business information from embezzlement, abuse, theft, loss or damage.
Here are some things the customer should look into.
• Have you selected an established partner, one that will match your business strategy and will understand how to maintain the necessary level of security.
• What are the outsourcing vendor’s IP protection practices and data security that will protect the customer’s private information?
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While discussing the offshoring of Intellectual Property and its pitfalls the other day, it was recommended that IP due diligence and risk assessment should be employed to offset these dangers, safeguard its intellectual property as well as to identify the functions that should or should not be outsourced.
So, what does due diligence include? It may include the following:
• Identifying and documenting all of the Intellectual Property assets connected to the task to be outsourced
• Identifying which areas are of critical importance to your business
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The very nature and importance of Intellectual Property varies in different businesses and industries. The rights of the investors are caught up in it in several ways. Therefore the management of intellectual property and issues regarding data protection are extremely important for businesses that use offshoring or outsourcing.
What does this intellectual property include? It may be data, software, trade secrets, business and technology processes, patents, expertise or authorship. Some of it may even belong to third parties and will therefore require licensing.
So that the information sharing is managed effectively, both, the vendor and the customer must administer their Intellectual Property properly and maintain their business objectives. There must be definite benefits in sharing these Intellectual Property assets and they must be more important than the risks linked to outsourcing.
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